Babak Zanjani: I Will Get My Money Back by Any Means

According to the state news agency IRNA, Babak Zanjani, the imprisoned businessman, on Sunday during the fifth session of his trial addressed the Housing Bank, stating: "Do not doubt that I will get my money back by any means, and if I cannot reach Iran, I will retrieve my money from anywhere in the world where it exists." Zanjani, the main accused in the billion-dollar oil case, also entered into politics during his defense, expressing his surprise that "in the previous government, no one knew what was happening, and now that the government has changed, they think everything the previous administration did was wrong, and everyone today understands that I have taken advantage of them." Zanjani addressed the lawyers of the Housing Bank, saying: "My money has been in your account, whether good or bad, reject the account [do not accept the money], you have no claim against me that you are sitting here clinging to me." Zanjani discussed a claim he made against the Housing Bank, mentioning that one Thursday, despite his company being closed, he was contacted by the Housing Bank requesting a face-to-face meeting, and members of the board, CEO, legal manager, etc., came to his company. According to him, during this meeting, the Housing Bank officials asked for his help, stating that they had given 65 billion tomans to a person without having a check or promissory note from him, and since they had to appear in the Economic Corruption Court on Saturday, they needed to show this money, or everyone would be arrested. On Sunday, Zanjani stated in court that he had boarded a plane to help the Housing Bank managers, traveled to Kish, sold 67 million euros to Bank Mellat, and placed it at the disposal of the Housing Bank, which has not returned his money to date. Zanjani also referred to his acquaintance and friendship with "the boys of the Ministry of Intelligence," stating: "When I was sanctioned, I was in the UAE, and as soon as I passed through the airport gate, I was arrested and taken away, and if it weren't for the boys of the Ministry of Intelligence and my friends, we wouldn't have been able to do anything; I slept at the Iranian embassy for nine nights so they couldn't capture me." Zanjani further stated, "Iran's oil money is one of the main smuggled and black market goods in the world, and did the Ministry of Oil bring its money from a shrine today to demand clean money from me?" Continuing his defense reading in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, Zanjani referred to his relations with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Saeed Mortazavi, the former CEO of the Social Security Organization, stating that ten days before his sanctions, he had given four billion euros to the Social Security Organization and that the only trick that came to his mind was to contact the oil minister from the UAE and request that instead of the four billion euros he had paid to the Social Security Organization, he should buy a company for two billion euros or transfer the money wherever they wanted. According to Babak Zanjani, after returning to Iran, he went to Saeed Mortazavi's office and said: "I am counting on you, buy a company with two billion euros from the four billion euros I deposited to the Social Security Organization," but as Zanjani stated, the day after his meeting with Mortazavi, he was arrested and lost access to Mortazavi. Zanjani explained that after Mortazavi's arrest and losing contact with him, he turned to the then oil minister and through him reached Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and another meeting was held with Mortazavi. Although according to Zanjani, Mortazavi had promised to return his money, he was dismissed, and Mortazavi himself told him, "I am sorry; I was the CEO until yesterday, but today I am not even an interim manager, and my signature no longer holds value." Babak Zanjani, who was among those responsible for circumventing oil sanctions and selling Iranian oil during the last years of Ahmadinejad's presidency, has reportedly sold billions of dollars worth of oil without returning the proceeds to the government. For this reason, he has been in custody for nearly two years, and his court sessions continue. On Saturday, Zanjani promised in his fourth court session that within two days and in two stages, he would provide a bank guarantee worth 1,968 million euros through a "reputable" foreign bank to settle his debts to the Iranian Ministry of Oil.