Indictment Issued for Former Currency Deputy and Former Central Bank Director

The spokesperson for the judiciary announced that an indictment has been issued for the former currency deputy of the Central Bank, a director general of this bank, and six others on charges of "distributing currency outside regulations" in the market. According to IRNA news agency, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei reported on Sunday, November 20, during a press conference that an indictment has been issued for the currency deputy of the Central Bank, a director general, and his intermediary named Salar Aghakhan, along with five others, and the case has been sent to court. Mr. Ejei stated that 11 other individuals have also been arrested or summoned in this case. He mentioned that the former president of the Central Bank also has a case in this regard and remains banned from leaving the country. Ahmad Iraqi, the former currency deputy of the Central Bank of Iran, was arrested on August 5 and released after two months. Mr. Mohseni Ejei had previously reported on October 24 about the travel ban on Valiollah Seif, the former president of the Central Bank, and investigations into him. The judiciary spokesperson also stated that Mr. Seif has another case related to complaints from some members of financial and credit institutions. Mr. Mohseni Ejei did not provide further details on this complaint. Valiollah Seif had reported on December 12, 2017, that in disputes between the Central Bank and unauthorized financial institutions, courts had ruled in favor of these institutions in some cases. Ahmad Tavakoli also mentioned that the CEO of the financial institution Samen al-Hojaj has "significant influence and even obtained a detention order for Mr. Bahmani, the previous Central Bank governor." The judiciary spokesperson also reported that in the past three weeks, "96 economic disruptors from the streets" have been arrested, and 28 of them have been released on bail. Following the crisis in Iran's currency market, several market actors, including Dariush Ebrahimi Bilandi and Younes Bahadadini, have been sentenced to death, and the death sentences of Vahid Mazloomin and Mohammad Ismail Qasemi have been confirmed by the Supreme Court. The judiciary's actions come amid warnings from many analysts that while "security measures" may prevent a short-term increase in currency prices, they will not have a long-term effect, just as currency prices continued to rise despite "security measures in the previous government." Additionally, Mr. Mohseni Ejei announced that a Foreign Ministry employee named Kamal Amirbik, who was arrested by the Ministry of Intelligence, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and the confiscation of $270,000. He did not provide further details on the charges against Mr. Amirbik. The judiciary spokesperson also reported that two former CEOs of Bank Sarmayeh have recently been arrested, facing "serious charges." He mentioned that indictments have been issued for 13 individuals in this case. Previously, some members of parliament had spoken about financial misconduct amounting to 8,000 to 12,000 billion tomans in the Cultural Fund for Teachers. This fund has over 800,000 members affiliated with the Ministry of Education and pays annual interest on the monthly deposits of teachers. The "Sarmayeh" bank is also considered a subsidiary of this fund. Earlier, Mahmoud Sadeghi, a Tehran representative in parliament, announced that financial misconduct in this fund occurred between 2007 and 2013 during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. According to Mr. Sadeghi, it was revealed in 2013, when the fund was handed over to Rouhani's government, that during the period from 2007 to 2013, this fund had "4,000 billion tomans in uncollectible assets."