4 Billion Tomans of Unconventional Salaries Returned to the Government

The head of the Parliament's Article 90 Commission announced that 4 billion tomans of 'unconventional salaries' have been returned to the government, and this refund process is ongoing. In this context, the prosecutor of the Court of Audit also stated that this institution is reporting some 'administrative violations' to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to Fars News Agency, Davood Mohammadi, the head of the Article 90 Commission, reported on Sunday, August 1, that 4 billion tomans of 'unconventional salaries' have been returned to the government and the recovery of these salaries continues. He also referred to the review of the salaries of 950 managers, stating that the salary cap for these individuals ranged from 30 million tomans to 50 million tomans, and the number of individuals receiving salaries above 50 million tomans is 'very few'. Mr. Mohammadi had previously announced that the list of 'unconventional salary slips' includes 950 managers from state companies and the banking and insurance sectors, who received at least 'between 15 to 50 million tomans'. However, Nasser Saraj, head of the Inspection Organization, stated on Tuesday, July 21, that 'only three percent' of the 950 managers whose cases were reviewed by the Court of Audit had salaries of 40 million tomans or more. According to Mr. Saraj, '70 percent' of these managers earn up to 20 million tomans, and '27 percent' earn between 20 to 30 million tomans. Amir Hossein Rahimi, the then head of the Court of Audit, also stated that 'only eight managers, or less than one percent, have salaries above 40 million tomans'. Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, government spokesman, also announced on Tuesday, August 5, that only about 40 managers received 'unconventional' salaries. On the same day, Fayyaz Shajai, prosecutor of the Court of Audit, announced that this court has established a 'special branch' for 'quicker and more accurate handling' of the issue of 'unconventional salaries'. Mr. Shajai also mentioned in an interview with Tasnim News Agency that Branch 7 of the prosecutor's office of the Court of Audit is dedicated to 'bank violations' to 'specifically investigate the matter'. He also responded to a question about the cooperation of the Court of Audit with the IRGC's intelligence organization, stating: 'In terms of administrative violations that fall under the jurisdiction of the IRGC, we will definitely inform them.' Ali Rastgar, former CEO of Bank Mellat, has been named in conservative media as one of the recipients of 'unconventional salaries', and he had resigned from his position. Mr. Rastgar and his international deputy were arrested by the IRGC intelligence organization in late July, and Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of this military organization, accused the detainees of being part of an economic 'corruption network' that, according to him, 'some politicians' are also involved with. Some conservative media and Moussa Ghazanfari Abadi, head of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, have accused Hossein Fereydoun, brother of Hassan Rouhani, of having 'connections' with this 'banking corruption network'. A few days before the arrest of this banking manager, Hossein Taeb, head of the IRGC intelligence organization, stated that this organization is currently 'monitoring the behind-the-scenes of economic violations' in Iran. The prosecutor of the Court of Audit stated in another part of this interview that 'the issue of the Court of Audit's negligence regarding astronomical salaries is absolutely not true, and the lack of awareness of individuals about the Court of Audit's working process has led to these claims being spread in society'. Mr. Shajai's remarks come at a time when the President and the Speaker of the Parliament had previously stated that the 'weakness' of oversight bodies in this matter was 'evident'. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, also stated on Sunday, August 3, that 'all' oversight bodies, including the General Inspection Organization and security departments, had been negligent regarding the issue of salary slips. The Court of Audit is a supervisory body affiliated with the Parliament that oversees how budgets are spent in government agencies. The head and prosecutor of the Court of Audit are elected by the votes of Parliament representatives. The prosecutor's office of the Court of Audit can issue rulings on cases related to budget expenditures in government agencies, and these rulings are enforceable after going through the appeals process and the order of the prosecutor of the Court of Audit.