Police Spokesman: Individuals Arrested in Connection with NAJA Foundation Case

Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi, spokesman for the Law Enforcement Force, stated on Sunday, June 7, that "deviations" in the subsidiaries of the NAJA Foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been confirmed, and in this regard, "individuals" have been arrested. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, IRNA, Montazer al-Mahdi mentioned in his first press conference that deviations in the subsidiaries of the NAJA Foundation have been confirmed, and individuals have been arrested in this context, with the case still open and under investigation. He added that deviations occurred in the NAJA Foundation's subsidiaries, and the protective and inspection systems reported this issue to the then commander of NAJA last year. The police spokesman noted that these deviations were confirmed, and the then commander of NAJA formed a legal case regarding this matter and pursued it, ultimately handing the case over to the judiciary. Montazer al-Mahdi did not refer to the identity, rank, or number of those arrested, while a report from the website Kalemeh, close to Mir Hossein Mousavi, mentioned that the reason for the dismissal of former police chief Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam was the discovery of a financial "corruption" of 1.2 trillion tomans in the NAJA Foundation. The report added that Ahmadi Moghaddam had been "at least detained for two days" before his dismissal, and "at least twelve senior officials of the NAJA Foundation and generals connected to this network, including General Q., the former CEO of this foundation, are in custody." In response to this report, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, spokesman for the judiciary, denied this issue on June 24. In this context, Ezzatollah Youssefian, a member of the Iranian Parliament and a member of the Economic Corruption Combat Headquarters, also stated on June 25 to JAR Press that "no charges or arrests have been made against the police command so far." This parliament member added, "It is natural that financial institutions may be questioned in some respects; some investigations have been conducted, and probably some events have occurred; however, no charges have been directed at the former police commander so far." In another part of this press conference, Saeed Montazer al-Mahdi discussed the sale of oil by the police, stating that in a meeting held for this purpose in 2013, the first vice president, the oil minister, the treasury chief, the central bank governor, and government spokesman Nobakht, along with some police officials, examined the issue of oil sales, and it was accepted that the oil received and sold for budget deficits was used for the NAJA's expenses, salaries, and budget. The police spokesman stated that protocols, legal actions, and formalities were not properly conducted in the previous government, and therefore it was decided that Nobakht would prepare a report and present it to the president. Montazer al-Mahdi added that with the internal and external accounting method used for accounting reforms, this money, amounting to $180 million with government currency, is considered a debt in NAJA and will be returned to the treasury. It is noted that similar issues have occurred in the past in the form of gasoline purchases. Fars News Agency reported on January 25, 2014, referencing the budget audit report of 2012, that the police, despite selling a shipment of crude oil worth $185 million and receiving payment, had refused to pay its debt to the National Iranian Oil Company. Meanwhile, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam confirmed on October 7, 2014, the details of the sale of two shipments of Iranian oil worth $240 million by this police agency during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, stating that $6 million of this money had not yet been deposited into the treasury. According to Ahmadi Moghaddam, $180 million of this amount was directly spent on "salary shortages" for police personnel and had not been deposited into the treasury.