Former Police Chief Denies Arrest News

The former commander of Iran's police force denied news of his and his relatives' arrest, implicitly attributing the dissemination of such news to the defendants in an 'economic corruption' case involving the 'Qadr' company, a subsidiary of the Police Cooperation Foundation. According to the news agency Khabar Online, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam stated during a television program on Tuesday evening, June 9, that he had pursued an 'economic corruption' case in the 'Qadr' company four months before the end of his tenure and was threatened by the defendants who told him, 'If you confront us, we will take you down with us.' He mentioned that he had provided explanations to the judge regarding this case twice but had not been 'charged or imprisoned.' The website Kalemeh, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, reported on Tuesday, May 19, that the reason for Ahmadi Moghaddam's dismissal was the discovery of a 1.2 trillion tomans financial 'corruption' in the Police Cooperation Foundation and mentioned the arrest of 'one of his family members.' Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for Iran's judiciary, denied this report. The former police chief stated that he had become aware of an 'economic corruption' case in the 'Qadr' investment company, a subsidiary of the Police Cooperation Foundation, four months before the end of his tenure. He added, 'This company should not manage anything. It buys less than 50% of shares or operates in the stock market... We realized that they had abused their power, established companies outside, and invested in their own companies.' He emphasized that they told the defendants to return the assets, and they would overlook the matter. Initially, they agreed, but later, seeing that these companies were profitable, they said they had to buy them. We saw that we had to pay tens of billions of tomans to buy these companies. Several reports have previously been published about the activities of the 'Najie Qadr' company in the Iranian stock market. For instance, the weekly Tejarat-e-Farda had previously reported that this company purchased about 49% of the shares of the 'Engineering and Construction of Marine Facilities Company,' one of the major oil companies in Iran, in 2009. The former police chief continued his remarks by referring to the pursuit of the 'economic corruption' case of the 'Qadr' company in the judiciary, stating, 'We saw that they exerted influence. The judge stepped aside in the middle of the case. They went to the parliament, hired a lawyer, and told us that if you confront us, we will take you down with us. We have filmed it and will post it on the internet so that people will storm the Qavamin Institute.' The Qavamin Bank, which reportedly has over 800 branches across the country, is affiliated with the Islamic Republic's police force. Ahmadi Moghaddam stated, 'I had lost hope in the courts. I went to Ayatollah Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary... He said, how can a judge be transferred in the middle of a case?... This case must be managed by a special judge. He ordered that the case be transferred from the ordinary path to the military prosecutor's office. A special judge and investigator were appointed, and the case is being handled vigorously.' In response to the question of whether the defendants are so powerful that they could move the judge, he said, 'No, money works miracles. They go and work with money. I do not want to accuse the judiciary.' The Kalemeh website reported that Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam had been 'detained for at least two days' before his dismissal from the police command. Regarding this, Ahmadi Moghaddam said, 'Since that day until today, the judge of the case has sent me two letters, in which it is written that the defendants claimed that they had conducted some transactions with your permission. The judge asked whether this statement is true or not. I have neither been summoned nor am I a defendant.' He also commented on the news of the arrest of his son and son-in-law, stating, 'I have two daughters, one of whom is a student and the other is a schoolgirl and is not of working age.' He added, 'My son is a lawyer, and I advised him not to accept any government work and to stay away from these matters. My son and daughters are all tenants, living in houses under 100 square meters, and have no economic activities.' The former police chief emphasized, 'Those who spread rumors should specify which court, which tribunal, which detention center they are referring to. In law, the burden of proof is on the claimant.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, appointed Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari as the commander of the police force on Tuesday, March 9, 2015. Meanwhile, according to reports, Ahmadi Moghaddam's presidency of the police force had been extended for another year in June 2014.