For years, Zhouheir Yassar Sahloul was the most powerful rogue trader in Syria. As the head of the country's largest money changer, he was the linchpin between Syria's struggling, isolated economy and its huge diaspora that remits billions of dollars a year to families back home.
In a country that was saddled with strict foreign exchange laws, it was Mr Sahloul's agents who ensured Syrian merchants had enough hard currency to do business with partners overseas.
In 2005, when the Syrian pound was on the verge of collapse because of regional political tensions, the Syrian government turned to Mr Sahloul because the country's central bank lacked the resources to support the currency on its own.
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