Exclusive; Disclosure of a Multi-Million Dollar Embezzlement Using 'Fake SWIFTs' at the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters of the IRGC

A document obtained during the hacking of the judiciary, provided to Voice of America by the hacker group 'Justice Ali', reveals a multi-million dollar financial corruption case involving public assets at the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). According to this document, a former official of Khatam al-Anbiya, an economic subsidiary of the IRGC, exploited his position to purchase bankrupt public companies, resulting in significant losses to public assets and pocketing millions of dollars. This document, dated August 2021 and marked 'Highly Confidential' and 'Urgent', includes a report signed by 'Abdollah Asgari, Commander of the Operational Headquarters of the IRGC Intelligence Protection Organization', addressed to Ali Al-Qasi Mehr, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran Province, regarding a multi-million dollar 'fraud' within this economic institution of the IRGC. The report states that an individual named 'Abbasali Ghasemi', with a contractual membership, as the 'Head of the Investment Department of Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters of the IRGC', abused his position to buy shares of bankrupt public companies and entered into 'irregular' contracts with foreign companies. These contracts, due to the 'failure to obtain valid collateral from the mentioned companies', have caused 'significant financial losses to public funds'. Several examples of contracts by Abbasali Ghasemi are mentioned, including a 'contract with Sinaco of the UAE in 2010 worth 62 million euros, without a formal contract' and a 'contract with Starold in 2011 worth 22 million euros, without a formal contract', as well as a 'contract with GPG of Spain in 2010 worth 3.6 million dollars', all without guarantees. According to the report from the commander of the IRGC Intelligence Protection Organization, in the contract with Starold, 'the mentioned company committed fraud using fake SWIFTs from the headquarters' and 'the contracting companies have not fulfilled any of their obligations and have not returned the received amounts'. Another section of the document details a 'contract between Petro Green Malaysia, under the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters', and 'GPG' for a '7 million dollar foreign bank loan' intended for 'purchasing marine vessels', where 'Mahd Omid Aryan' transferred '12 million dollars' as 'banking and other costs' to the Malaysian company, which then 'after receiving the transfer code, deposited 3 million and 600 thousand dollars into GPG's account', but 'no obligations have been fulfilled and no work has been done'. The report states that Khatam al-Anbiya, due to 'negligence in fulfilling legal duties', instead of pursuing the matter in 'judicial courts', introduced an individual named Dr. 'Moshitollah Noorouzi' as the authorized representative to 'negotiate' with foreign companies, resulting in 'hundreds of billions of tomans from Khatam al-Anbiya's funds remaining with foreign companies over several years'. The leaked judicial documents indicate that 'this action has increased Khatam's bank debts in the country's banking system and Iranian companies affiliated with Khatam al-Anbiya have been blacklisted by the Central Bank of Iran'. The reason for the inclusion of Khatam's companies on the Central Bank's blacklist is stated as these companies opening foreign currency credit accounts in Bank Saderat for 'contracting and transferring currency abroad', and after issuing SWIFTs by Sinaco for 62 million euros and Starold for 22 million euros, the Iranian company releases the credit, while the SWIFTs were fake. The document also highlights the 'possibility of collusion between Moshitollah Noorouzi and foreign companies', emphasizing that 'after the mentioned issues were put into the follow-up process, the mentioned foreign companies are unwilling to negotiate with Khatam al-Anbiya'. Abdullah Asgari, the commander of the IRGC Intelligence Protection Organization, requested Ali Al-Qasi Mehr to investigate 'the exact amounts' involved in this embezzlement and to 'identify' other related individuals, including examining Moshitollah Noorouzi's financial documents such as his bank accounts and 'those related to the CEOs of all state and private banks and financial institutions in the country', as well as inquiring about his and his associates' 'foreign exchange transactions' in the 'Non-Banking Financial Institutions Supervision Department of the Central Bank'. Khatam al-Anbiya has been under US sanctions for years. It is said that Khatam al-Anbiya, a subsidiary of the IRGC, is one of four institutions of the Islamic Republic that 'controls more than half of Iran's economy'. 'Astan Quds Razavi, the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command, and the Foundation of the Oppressed' are the other three institutions in this quartet, which are managed under the supervision of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic. Other documents among the leaked judiciary records provided to Voice of America indicate that the IRGC Intelligence Organization's interference prevents the investigation of a lawyer's murder case related to the economic corruption case, and judicial authorities were told that 'the accused is a red line for Mr. Taeb'. *These reports are based on the documents obtained and published, and in the absence of a free media environment and information dissemination in Iran, the possibility of accurate and independent verification for Voice of America has not been provided.