Motaki Denies Receiving 124 Billion Toman Loan from Samaneh Al-Hojjaj

The office of Manouchehr Motaki, the foreign minister of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's tenth government, has denied a report by the newspaper 'Shargh' regarding the receipt of a multi-billion toman loan from the 'Samaneh Al-Hojjaj' institution. The Shargh newspaper, in its investigative report dated July 17, stated that Mr. Motaki, who held the position of international affairs advisor at the Samaneh Al-Hojjaj institution, received '124 billion tomans' in facilities. According to Mehr news agency, the former foreign minister's office issued a statement denying the claims published in Shargh and deemed the reposting of this information on social media as 'illegal,' stating that they will pursue legal action against those responsible. The statement also mentioned that the Motaki office will follow all legal and judicial procedures to clarify public opinion until a final result is achieved and to punish the accusers and spreaders of falsehoods. It further added that if the claims made by Shargh are proven true, 'the judiciary and state institutions can take action to confiscate it.' The Shargh newspaper also reported that Motaki denied receiving a multi-billion toman loan from Samaneh Al-Hojjaj in a phone call with the newspaper's director. According to this report, while he threatened the newspaper with legal action, his name was not fully mentioned in the investigative report. In addition to his role as an international affairs advisor at the Samaneh Al-Hojjaj institution, Mr. Motaki was previously a member of the board of directors of the 'Lisar Mah' company, which also included Abolfazl Mirali, the CEO of Samaneh Al-Hojjaj, and Mohammad Hassan Khamenei, the brother of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Abolfazl Mirali, the CEO of the financial and credit institution 'Samaneh Al-Hojjaj,' is currently detained, and his bail has increased to 4 trillion tomans. The financial institution 'Samaneh Al-Hojjaj' began its activities in 2001 under the name 'Samaneh Al-Hojjaj Cooperative of Graduates' and went bankrupt due to investments in the housing market and a recession in that market. After going bankrupt, the institution was transferred to Parsian Bank, which announced that deposit holders with deposits up to 100 million tomans could withdraw up to 35 million tomans from their deposits, and the remainder would be paid within a year. Parsian Bank stated that deposits of 200 million tomans and more would be paid in subsequent stages. According to judicial officials, this case has about 370 complainants, and 'approximately 12 trillion tomans of financial misconduct' has occurred. Previously, Ahmad Tavakoli, a member of the ninth parliament, stated that most of the loan recipients from the bankrupt financial institution 'Samaneh Al-Hojjaj' are experienced judges and the children of prominent clerics and political figures. He added that 'the CEO of the Samaneh Al-Hojjaj financial institution has significant influence and even obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Bahmani, the former head of the Central Bank.' Reports about the granting of multi-billion toman loans by this institution to several prominent political and artistic figures come at a time when last year, victims who had deposited in credit institutions held multiple protests in various cities across Iran. Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a member of the Money and Credit Council, previously stated that financial and credit institutions established strange connections and infiltrated some agencies and institutions, and according to him, 'they have infiltrated the houses of some clerics.'