The French Supreme Court has upheld a court ruling that accused Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, of acquiring millions of euros worth of French property using money transferred from the Syrian state, Reuters reported.

The decision of the Court of Cassation, following a lengthy process that saw various appeals, upheld the four-year prison term of Rifaat al-Assad, who returned to Syria last year after failing to manage his wealth in France.

“Assets belonging to Rifaat al-Assad in France that were confiscated during the trial will be confiscated irretrievably,” said Sherpa, a French human rights lawyers group whose criminal case sparked the trial in 2013.

Al-Assad (85) has lived in exile since the mid-1980s, spending most of that time in France after being accused of trying to seize power from his brother, the late President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, and returned to his country in October after becoming unable to manage his wealth in France.

The French judiciary suspected that he illegally purchased property in several countries between 1984 and 2016 with money from Syria. He repeatedly denied the allegations and said he received his wealth as a gift from the Saudi monarch.