Ejei: 'Coin Sultan' was arrested and acquitted in 2012 as well

Less than two weeks after the police commander of Tehran announced the arrest of an individual known as the 'Coin Sultan', the spokesperson for the judiciary identified this person as Hamid Mazloomian and stated that he had also been arrested in 2012 and acquitted after explanations from the Central Bank. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the first deputy and spokesperson of the Iranian judiciary, said at a press conference on Sunday, July 14, that in 2012 and 2013, when several major currency and coin sellers were arrested, Hamid Mazloomian and his son, Mohammad Reza, were among those detained. However, according to Ejei, the Central Bank at that time officially informed the court in writing that the actions of these two individuals were 'in consultation and coordination' with the bank; therefore, they were acquitted and released. Tehran police commander Hossein Rahimi announced on July 4 the arrest of an individual who, according to him, had 'collected about two tons of coins' over a period of 10 months. Nonetheless, the judiciary spokesperson stated that 'two tons of coins have not been discovered from this individual, but documents have been obtained showing that he and his son have traded more than two tons.' According to the regulations of the Central Bank of Iran, there are no restrictions on purchasing coins, and Iranian laws do not mention any crime related to holding coins. The judiciary spokesperson also mentioned that in recent months, an individual had purchased between four to seven million dollars 36 times, but one of the Central Bank officials stated that this individual's actions were 'in coordination with us.' After the dollar price increased in 2011, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government distributed some currency in the Iranian market through currency exchange offices. However, Es'haq Jahangiri, the first deputy of Hassan Rouhani, stated in 2014 that 'in the previous government, in less than 18 months, about 22 billion dollars of the country's currency was taken out under the pretext of controlling its price domestically and sold in the markets of Istanbul and Dubai.' In recent weeks, reports have emerged about 'violations' in the import of mobile phones, cars, and other goods that were imported with government currency. Meanwhile, the judiciary spokesperson said that 'several major violations' occurred in the import of mobile phones with government currency, resulting in 'several individuals being arrested and some companies being sealed.' Ejei did not specify the number of individuals arrested or the companies sealed. According to the previous government policy, the currency needed for imports and the currency resulting from exports was provided to the monetary and banking network of the Iranian economy at a rate of 4,200 tomans per dollar. This action drew criticism from several experts, and at the same time, Akbar Turkan, an advisor to the President of Iran, stated that importers were selling goods imported with 4,200 tomans at a price of eight thousand tomans per dollar using 'a thousand tricks and schemes.' Ultimately, the government accepted the failure of this policy in July and created a 'secondary currency market,' which means a three-tiered currency system. In this plan, exporters who previously did not present their currency in the 'Integrated Currency System' (NIMA) will offer it at an agreed rate to goods that do not fall under the 4,200 toman currency. However, according to this plan, the 4,200 toman currency is still allocated to importers for essential goods.