Mohsen Pahlevan, CEO of Padideh Shandiz Company Arrested

Gholamali Sadeghi, the prosecutor of Khorasan Razavi, stated on Wednesday, August 6, that Mohsen Pahlevan, the CEO of Padideh Shandiz Company, was arrested and sent to prison after being summoned to the public and revolutionary prosecutor's office in Mashhad. According to Tasnim, Gholamali Sadeghi emphasized that judicial actions were taken after reports of crimes and violations at Padideh Shandiz Company reached the prosecutor's office in Mashhad. The prosecutor added that he was arrested and sent to prison following his summons to the public and revolutionary prosecutor's office in Mashhad. Padideh Shandiz Company, registered in Bahman 1383 (February 2005), was involved in the development of construction projects in Shandiz, near Mashhad. The company later took the initiative to sell its shares, which rapidly increased in value. However, in Dey 1393 (December 2014), judicial authorities in Mashhad announced that the sale of Padideh Shandiz shares was prohibited and the sales offices were sealed. Gholamali Sadeghi, the judge of this case at that time, stated, 'Due to the so-called ballooning and illegal increases in shares, billions of rials have been transferred, which certainly requires transparency so that no one becomes a billionaire overnight.' Following allegations regarding land use changes and the manner of share transactions, many shareholders of Padideh Shandiz attempted to sell their shares. It is reported that the company issued vouchers to some shareholders, but due to the high volume of shareholder requests, the company was unable to fulfill its obligations. Alireza Rashidian, the then-governor of Khorasan Razavi, stated last year that based on audits conducted, the total debt of Padideh Company is 84 trillion rials. According to IRNA, he added that this debt includes shareholder rights, government rights, costs of issuing permits, licenses, and fines from Article 100 commissions and land use changes, as well as debts to the dissolved cooperative Meyzan and contractors. According to this report, the number of shareholders in Padideh Company exceeds 114,000. Alireza Rashidian mentioned that 56,313 people received vouchers and commitment papers, but this was not realized. The company's inability to meet its obligations led to gatherings of creditors and defrauded investors of Padideh Shandiz in Tehran and Mashhad. Nasrollah Pejmanfar, the representative of Mashhad, warned last year in a public session of the parliament that 'the Padideh Shandiz issue has turned into a severe social crisis in Mashhad and surrounding cities.' Mohsen Pahlevan Moghadam, in Tir 1392 (July 2013), stated in an interview with Ideal Life magazine about his life: 'I am a child of the streets of Tehran, Mashhad. For generations, we have been in construction work. The tiling of Imam Reza's shrine and the shrine of Khwaja Rabi was done by my grandfather. That's why we also got into construction. Throughout the time I was in construction, I visited Shandiz Restaurant every few days because it was the best place we could eat in Mashhad. These visits led us to start a collaborative project; in 1376 (1997), we established the Shandiz Restaurant on Jordan Street in Tehran in cooperation with one of the Shandiz chain restaurants.' IRNA news agency previously reported on the connections between the managers of this company and senior officials of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, including Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and Hamid Bakai.