Babak Zanjani and Two Defendants in Oil Case Sentenced to Death

The spokesperson for Iran's judiciary stated on Sunday, March 6, that the verdict for Babak Zanjani and two other defendants tried in the oil case has been issued in the primary court, which identified the three as 'corrupt on earth.' According to the IRNA news agency, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei added during his press conference that the primary court has sentenced these three defendants to death and has also ordered the restitution of property related to the plaintiff, which is the National Iranian Oil Company, and imposed a fine equivalent to one-fourth of the money laundering amount. The names of the other two defendants sentenced to death have not yet been disclosed by the media. Babak Zanjani, who reportedly assisted the government of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in circumventing banking sanctions, was arrested on December 30, 2013, following a complaint from the Iranian Ministry of Oil. The Tehran prosecutor's office has accused Babak Zanjani of corruption on earth, disrupting the country's economic system, extensive fraud against the National Iranian Oil Company, fraud against the 'FIB Bank', forgery of banking documents and foreign exchange remittances, forgery of interbank transfer orders, money laundering amounting to 1.967 billion euros, and spreading falsehoods. In his indictment, Babak Zanjani has been accused of receiving 'one million barrels of oil worth 300 million euros' from the Iranian oil company and having paid '160 million euros' of the 2.7 billion euros he was obligated to pay, spending the remainder on personal affairs. Babak Zanjani and his lawyer had previously stated that as long as Western sanctions against Iran are in place, there is no possibility of depositing Mr. Zanjani's debt into the account of the National Iranian Oil Company. In this context, two electoral cases are on the Tehran prosecutor's agenda. A member of parliament stated that Zanjani's court did not address the cases of 12 Ahmadinejad managers. The Ministry of Oil announced that the process of selling Mr. Zanjani's assets has begun.