Abbas Irawani, the Primary Accused in the 'Ozaam Group' Case, Arrested for 65 Years in Prison

On Thursday, March 8, the media center of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic reported on the issuance of sentences for the defendants in the 'Ozaam Group' case in the special court for economic crimes, announcing that Abbas Irawani was arrested to serve his sentence and was introduced to prison. In total, Abbas Irawani has been sentenced to 65 years in prison as the primary accused in two cases related to the Ozaam Group. The Tasnim news agency, affiliated with security institutions, reported on Wednesday, March 7, that credible news indicated that the hiding place of Abbas Irawani, an economic criminal who had not complied with the final court ruling despite its issuance and notification, was identified by the Ministry of Intelligence, and after his arrest, he was handed over to the judiciary. According to the judiciary media center, Abbas Irawani's sentence had previously been finalized, and in recent days, this sentence was executed, leading to his arrest and introduction to prison. The report states that Abbas Irawani was the primary accused in the Ozaam Group cases, with other defendants including Mehdi Shahabi, Morteza Roghani, Hassan Safarian, Morad Ali Kermani, Amir Reza Rafiei, and Hamed Khatamipour. According to the report, in the first case, Abbas Irawani was sentenced to 25 years in prison for 'significantly disrupting the country's economic system through organized and professional smuggling of automotive parts in a large scale amounting to over 664 million dollars' and 'leading an organized criminal group smuggling automotive parts,' along with the confiscation of all assets obtained illegally. He was also sentenced to 8 months in prison for 'aiding in document forgery' and to compensate for damages, 2 years and 1 month for 'aiding in the use of forged documents,' 2 years and 1 month for 'aiding in bribery,' and 1 year and 1 month for 'participating in aiding Hamed Khatamipour's escape.' In the second case, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for 'participating in significantly disrupting the country's economic system through disruption in the monetary and currency system,' along with the confiscation of all assets obtained illegally and restitution to the banking network. He was also sentenced to 2 years and 1 month for 'aiding in the forgery of 36 inspection certificates through payment of funds for forgery,' 3 years and 6 months for 'using 36 forged inspection certificates by presenting them to banks for receiving funds related to documentary credits,' and 3 years and 6 months for 'forging 69 transcripts and using them by presenting them to banks,' along with compensation for damages. Other defendants received prison sentences ranging from 20 years to 4 years based on their charges. Abbas Irawani had been accused of 'corruption on earth' in this case, but during the investigation, in October 2020, Judge Salavati announced that his charge had been changed to 'significantly disrupting the country's economic system.' The Ozaam Company, owned by Abbas Irawani, is reported by Iranian media to be a holding company with 10 subsidiary companies and 12 factories. According to media reports, over 5,000 people are directly employed in the automotive and non-automotive parts manufacturing sector of Ozaam, and 20,000 people are indirectly employed (with some reports suggesting 30,000 to 40,000 people) dependent on this company. Jamshid Barzegar: Corruption has now become a method of governance in the Islamic Republic and has engulfed the leaders of the system. Ali Afshari: The spread of systematic corruption in the Islamic Republic stems from the theory of Velayat-e Faqih. Siamak Javadi: The engines of inflation in Iran are running; corruption in the country is structural and systematic. Exclusive: Disclosure of embezzlement of tens of millions of dollars using 'fake SWIFTs' in Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters. The head of the Organization of Trade and Industry: 'Dabesh tea' products were not even suitable for animal consumption.