Hosseini's Statements in Court Regarding Payment of 21 Billion Tomans to Former Iranian Ambassador in Turkey

Hosseini Hedayati, a football investor, stated in his fifth court session that he had given "21 billion tomans" to the former Iranian ambassador in Turkey and also paid "two million dollars" to the head of the Football Federation for the national team's expenses. According to ISNA news agency, Mr. Hedayati said on Tuesday, March 18, in his court session: "Because of taking a loan with collateral, I am called a disruptor. I wish I could discuss the issues of the Resistance Front and ISIS." He did not provide further explanation about these statements. Mr. Hedayati's reference to the "Resistance Front" may imply his possible financial assistance to the presence of Iranian military forces in Iraq and Syria. He also mentioned: "The Iranian ambassador in Turkey during the previous government took 21 billion tomans from me, and after four years of issuing an indictment, his case has still not been addressed in court." Mr. Hedayati did not mention the name of this ambassador. Firooz Dowlatabadi served until 2006, Bahman Hosseinpour from 2008 to 2012, and Alireza Beigdeli from 2012 to 2015 as Iran's ambassador to Turkey. In his court session, Mr. Hedayati also announced that he had donated more than 250 billion tomans to 14 sports federations. He stated: "Mr. Taj (the head of the Football Federation) took two million dollars from me, which he also confirmed. I told Mr. Taj several times to get permission from the IRGC and the prosecutor's office to take money from me, but he said that I had introduced three people to receive the money, and they said to only take money from Hosseini Hedayati." Mr. Hedayati also claimed that he paid "150,000 dollars" to the volleyball federation to distribute as bonuses to players in Poland. In the indictment, Hedayati is accused of being "indebted to the banks, including Bank Sarmayeh, for 1500 billion tomans due to the principal and delay in repayment" of loans he received. He is also accused of receiving part of these loans through shell companies and that some of the collateral he deposited for the loans is worth 13 times less than the declared value due to bribery. According to the indictment, several workers, taxi drivers, and motorcycle messengers were appointed as CEOs of these shell companies. In Tuesday's session, Mr. Hedayati also criticized that the case of Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of Hassan Rouhani, is being held privately while his trial is public. In this session, Mr. Gharamani, the prosecutor's representative, stated: "Regarding Bank Sarmayeh, which has about 400 defendants, some of the defendants are fugitives... they have taken amounts abroad, and this case is in a lot of twists and turns." He also reported that indictments have been issued for eight managers of Bank Sarmayeh, and the indictment for 32 more managers will be issued after the Nowruz holidays. Ali Bakhshai, Mohammad Reza Tosli, and Parviz Kazemi, three members of the board of directors of Bank Sarmayeh, have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, 74 lashes, and a permanent ban from government jobs. According to the indictment read in court, the main accusation against Bank Sarmayeh is "14 trillion tomans of embezzlement in the assets of the Cultural Teachers' Fund." The main shareholder of Bank Sarmayeh (47%) is the Cultural Teachers' Fund, and the current case was initiated after corruption was discovered in this fund. The Cultural Teachers' Fund has more than 800,000 members affiliated with the Ministry of Education and pays annual profits to them from the monthly deposits of teachers.