PourMohammadi: There Are 50 Million Invalid Bank Accounts in Iran

Iran's Minister of Justice announced that there are approximately 50 million bank accounts with "invalid and unclear identities" in Iran. According to ILNA news agency, Mostafa PourMohammadi made this statement on Tuesday (August 15) during the ninth session of the National Authority Council for the Convention Against Corruption, stating, "Such statistics call into question the banking system of the country." This official added that the existence of 50 million "invalid" bank accounts harms the "economy of the country" and presents an "unfavorable image of the internal conditions of the country." Mr. PourMohammadi also expressed regret over the many "disorders in the financial sector," such as "tax and customs evasion," adding that "these issues comprise a significant portion of the volume of corruption in the country." In July of this year, the Minister of Justice also announced on a television program the elimination of 60 million bank accounts that had "incorrect information." PourMohammadi stated that "currently, with a population of 80 million, there are 350 million account numbers in banks, and several tens of millions of account holder information is incorrect." According to him, "when these accounts commit violations, they cannot be traced, and the offender cannot be identified." According to statistics from Central Bank officials, there are currently about 410 million bank accounts in Iran, of which 383 million have national codes and IDs and foreign national numbers. Farid Kian, head of the Anti-Money Laundering Department of the Central Bank, announced that currently "35 million accounts lack a national code or ID, of which 1,170 accounts are active, and 33 million others have withdrawal restrictions." Economic experts identify nameless and unmarked accounts as one of the most important grounds for money laundering, which "allows financial crime perpetrators to easily use these accounts." Ebrahim Raisi, the former Attorney General of the country, also reported in March 2015 the identification of 120 bank accounts linked to the financial flow of "drug trafficking" in Iran, stating that "traffickers attempt to introduce this money into the banking circulation of the country." Hossein Abdeh Tabrizi, the founder of Iran's first private bank and former secretary-general of the Tehran Stock Exchange, also stated that "the trafficking flow can be traced by examining bank accounts." In this context, the case of arresting bank debtors is "on the agenda of Iran's Criminal Investigation Police." The Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo has requested the expulsion of an Iranian accused of money laundering from the country. Seif: The banking situation in Iran has deviated from its sustainable conditions.