Justice Minister and Central Bank Chief: Zanjani's Statements are a 'Big Lie'

On Wednesday, November 20, the Iranian Justice Minister and the head of the Central Bank reacted to statements made by Babak Zanjani, an oil-related defendant, in court, calling his claim of having 22 billion euros in cash a 'big lie'. Zanjani stated in his seventh court session that 'I currently have 22 billion euros in cash'. Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, labeled Zanjani's statements as a 'big lie' and noted that he had made similar claims in the past that were 'all denied'. Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi also described Zanjani's remarks as a 'big lie', asserting that he has mistaken the court for a 'magic show'. He added, 'Such individuals dare to mock the people, but the court is vigilant.' Meanwhile, Zanjani's lawyer stated that the '22 billion euros in cash' is not in Iran. Rasoul Kouhpayehzadeh added, 'Since we are still under sanctions, if it becomes clear which bank holds this amount, it will lead to the punishment of that bank.' Iranian oil officials have repeatedly accused Zanjani of attempting to 'deceive' the court with claims about his assets. In another development, the lawyer of the oil company 'HK', affiliated with the Iranian Ministry of Oil, accused Zanjani of forging '1.2 billion euros in SWIFT messages'. According to ILNA news agency, Gholamhossein Sadeghi Ghahareh stated that Zanjani forged 'at least 24 documents and bank SWIFT messages' worth '1.2 billion euros'. He mentioned that Zanjani had emailed one of his employees to record an amount of 8.27 billion euros as a loan from HSBC in the records of 'FIIB Bank', while this operation was not conducted at FIIB's office in Malaysia but at the holding company's office in Tehran. 'FIIB Bank' is a bank in Malaysia where Zanjani claims to be a board member. He is accused in the indictment of having 'established' a bank in Malaysia, but 'this bank was actually operating from the Tehran office'. According to the indictment, only one correct message was exchanged between his bank and Iranian banks for the purchase of a crane, while the rest were forged. In a letter to members of parliament, parts of which were published by Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of parliament, Zanjani claimed that from 2009 to 2011, he installed a 'system' for several Iranian banks and sent 300 remittances daily, totaling 36,000 foreign remittances. He also stated that with this system, he transferred '2.5 million euros' and received 1200 tomans for each euro, claiming to have invested all this amount in the country. Zanjani did not provide details on how this 'banking' system worked. 300 million euros were deposited 'into a fictitious account'. The lawyer of the oil company 'HK' also referred to 11 contracts between the company and Zanjani for the sale of Iranian oil, accusing him of spending 2.7 billion euros from the sale of Iranian oil on 'buying properties, assets, ships, and airplanes'. He emphasized that Zanjani deposited part of this money into an exchange office linked to Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish investor. According to IRNA news agency, Mr. Sadeghi Ghahareh also accused Zanjani of falsely depositing 300 million euros in exchange for a contract for 'three oil shipments' with the Oil Ministry's pension fund, claiming the money was deposited into a fictitious account. The lawyer of the oil company 'HK' also referenced a police report from 2014 stating that Zanjani had 'forged several identities and documents'.