Member of Parliament: Babak Zanjani Has 25 Billion Euros in Japanese Banks

A member of the Iranian Parliament's Energy Commission referred to previous statements made by Babak Zanjani in this commission, stating that he has "25 billion euros" saved in "Japanese banks" and if he intended to pay his debts to the Ministry of Oil, he would have done so by now. According to ILNA, Amir Abbas Soltani said on Saturday, October 4, that 70 to 80 percent of Babak Zanjani's assets are located in Tajikistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Hawaii, and other places. Previously, some members of the Energy Commission, including Hossein Dehdashti, had reported the existence of audio files from "multiple" sessions of the Energy Commission with Babak Zanjani. Soltani's remarks about Zanjani's money in Japanese banks come at a time when Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran's Minister of Oil, has repeatedly accused Zanjani of receiving $2.7 billion with the collaboration of several ministers and the head of the Central Bank in the previous government, which was deposited into his "fake bank account" in Malaysia and ultimately this money has "disappeared." In this context, the newspaper Shargh reported on September 18, 2014, that a banker associated with Babak Zanjani in Malaysia, named Hossein Kongani Nejad, known as "Hosseini Nejadi," was murdered on August 7, 2013, in a parking lot in Kuala Lumpur. This report was later supplemented by statements from Ali Shams Ardekani, the head of the Energy Commission of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, who stated: "The bank he introduced in Malaysia was a single-window bank established and managed by an Iranian-Bahraini... As soon as the issues surrounding Babak Zanjani were revealed, he was found murdered in a mysterious incident in the parking lot of his residential complex in Kuala Lumpur." Reports about Zanjani's assets in Turkey, Tajikistan, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates have also been published. For instance, Gholamreza Tajgardoon, the head of the Iranian Parliament's Planning and Budget Commission, mentioned in an interview with Shargh on September 16 that he observed a bank, a large terminal, and "airplanes" that are reportedly owned by Babak Zanjani, and the Tajik government claims some of them. Additionally, Hamid Hosseini, the treasurer of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, stated on September 24, 2014, that Dubai owes Babak Zanjani nearly $400 million. However, Amir Abbas Soltani's statements indicate that a "six-member" group of Zanjani's lawyers is trying to secure his release before the court session on October 3. He added: "One person alone cannot embezzle this amount, and certainly all the team members who collaborated with him must also be prosecuted and tried." According to Iranian judicial officials, the first hearing regarding Babak Zanjani's charges is scheduled for October 3 in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Abolqasem Salavati. Babak Zanjani was arrested in January 2014 and has been in Evin Prison since then.