Prosecutor: 17 Cases Formed with Thousands of Complaints Against Car Pre-Sale Companies

The Tehran prosecutor described the cases of violations in car pre-sales as the "second bitter experience" following the issue of financial institutions and announced that 17 cases have been formed with 8,500 complainants. According to IRNA news agency, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi stated on Friday, October 19, that the complainants claim to be owed 490 billion tomans by these companies. He mentioned that for the case of Negin Khodro company, there are 3,519 complainants and a debt of 40 billion tomans; for Pasargad Khodro, there are 635 complainants and a debt of 7 billion tomans; and for Pars Khalij Khodro, there are 255 complainants. The Tehran prosecutor did not refer to the details of the rulings in these cases. He also noted that cases against companies such as Arman Persian Pars, Azim Khodro, Datis Khodro, Ramak Khodro, Miftah Rahnavard, Pakro Sabz Qeshm, Kimia Khodro, Mehr Khodro Gostaresh Toos, Arkafateh, Shahran Khodro, and Soorena Khodro are currently under investigation. The Tehran prosecutor did not mention the names of the managers of these companies. Meysam Rezaei, the head of the Association of Employers of Car Importers, who has reportedly been arrested for involvement in hacking the website of the Iranian Trade Development Organization and illegal car imports, is the CEO of Miftah Rahnavard. The Tehran prosecutor referred to the car pre-sale cases as the "second bitter experience of the country" after financial institutions. He added, "Police and prosecutors must investigate when they encounter car pre-sale advertisements and check the licenses because leasing companies must obtain permission from the Central Bank by law." Mr. Jafari Dolatabadi's statements come at a time when the names of Negin Khodro, Ramak Khodro, and Azim Khodro were previously announced by the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade as authorized companies for car pre-sales. In recent months, several victims of car pre-sale companies have gathered in front of these companies' buildings. Protests by depositors of financial institutions have also made headlines in recent years, and the protests in December of last year initially began with gatherings of victims of these institutions in Mashhad.