Issuance of 'Relatively Long-Term' Prison Sentence for Shahram Jazayeri

Tehran's prosecutor announced that Shahram Jazayeri, an Iranian businessman and economic suspect, has been sentenced to a 'relatively long-term' prison term. According to the Mizan news agency, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi stated on Saturday, January 5, that this sentence has not yet been confirmed by the appeals court, and the amount will be announced after approval by this court. He did not mention the specifics of the sentence or the charges against Mr. Jazayeri. According to Iranian judiciary officials, Shahram Jazayeri was arrested in August while attempting to 'illegally exit Iran' and was found in 'a container'. Judiciary officials had stated that Mr. Jazayeri was banned from leaving the country but did not provide reasons for this ban. Following this, Laya Janidi, Mr. Jazayeri's lawyer, stated that 'my client's debt is about 450 million tomans.' She did not clarify whether Mr. Jazayeri owes this amount to the government or to an individual. Shahram Jazayeri was arrested in 2002 during the largest and most controversial corruption case in Iran since the 1979 revolution. Initially sentenced to 27 years in prison, he was ultimately sentenced to 11 years of prison, a payment of 48 million dollars in compensation, a 97 million dollar fine, and a 10-year ban from receiving banking facilities. He escaped in March 2007, and shortly after, security officials announced that they had successfully captured him in a village in Oman and returned him to Iran. Shahram Jazayeri was finally released in August 2016 and resumed his economic activities. The Tehran prosecutor also stated on Saturday that in the case of the Thamen Company, four thousand people have filed complaints, and the manager of this company has a debt of 250 billion tomans, of which 100 billion tomans 'is available'. Iranian police and judiciary officials reported in October that Farhad Zahedifar, the CEO of 'Sekkeh Thamen', was arrested by 'Interpol police' in 'one of the neighboring countries' and returned to Iran. According to the information on the Sekkeh Thamen website, this institution had the necessary licenses from responsible authorities. Additionally, the Fars news agency was among the media that had previously encouraged individuals to invest through this institution's website. This institution was involved in the online buying and selling of coins and melted gold. However, according to reports, this institution has gone bankrupt.