Dolatabadi: An Indictment Has Been Issued for a Petrochemical Case Worth Three Billion Euros

Tehran's prosecutor announced the summons of 1,700 individuals regarding economic cases over the past six months and stated that an indictment has been issued for one of the 'petrochemical corruption cases' amounting to three billion euros. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said on Tuesday, December 20, that after five years of investigation, the indictment was issued for one of the petrochemical cases, and the case has been sent to court. According to him, this case has 11 defendants, and the amount of embezzlement exceeds three billion euros. The report indicates that the charge against these individuals is 'failure to deliver export currencies.' In 2012, Fars News Agency reported the arrest of a senior manager in the petrochemical trade market, stating that this case is 'broader than the three thousand billion tomans financial corruption case.' The agency announced that one of the amounts involved in this individual's case is '420 million euros, equivalent to two thousand billion tomans,' and he 'did not return the currency obtained from the export of products to a foreign company.' On Tuesday, the Tehran prosecutor also announced that since July 19, 1,700 individuals have been summoned in connection with economic cases, including currency and coins, 540 have been banned from leaving the country, and 136 have been banned from transactions, with 133 still imprisoned. Mr. Dolatabadi added that during this period, 73 indictments have been issued in economic cases, and penalties have been requested for 200 defendants in special branches. According to him, during this time, 48 prison sentences and three death sentences have been issued, of which two have been executed. With the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, a special court has been established with three judges from the Revolutionary Court to address the case of 'economic corruptors.' By the rulings of these courts, Vahid Malmoulin and Mohammad Ismail Qasemi, two coin sellers, were executed, and death sentences were also issued for Daryush Ebrahimi Bilandi and Younes Bahadadini. Additionally, in the Tehran Revolutionary Court, a death sentence was issued for Hamid Bagheri Damani, referred to as a 'large banking debtor,' and this ruling has been confirmed by the Supreme Court. Fa'ezeh Hashemi, a member of the Executives of Construction Party, stated that the executions of these individuals were carried out 'to suppress recent protests' and 'to intimidate the people.' Previously, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, had reported that an indictment had been issued for the former currency deputy of the Central Bank, a director general of this bank, and seven others on charges of 'distributing currency outside regulations' in the market, and the former head of this bank is still banned from leaving the country. Ahmad Iraqchi, the former currency deputy of the Central Bank of Iran, was arrested on August 5 and released after two months. The Tehran prosecutor also reported that 31 defendants have been arrested regarding the imported cars case. He did not provide details about these cases. Regarding car imports, judiciary officials had previously reported the existence of two major cases. According to the spokesman for the judiciary, in the case of 'illegal car imports,' five officials from the Ministry of Industry, including a director general, have been arrested in connection with the 'illegal' registration of car orders, and four of them are still in custody. The other case relates to violations in the pre-sale of cars and the failure to deliver cars to orderers by some private car import companies. On October 19, the Tehran prosecutor referred to these cases as the 'second bitter experience' after the issue of financial and credit institutions, reporting that 17 cases have been formed with 8,500 plaintiffs regarding this issue.