Tehran Prosecutor: 2 Trillion Tomans Transferred in Zanjani Case

The Tehran prosecutor announced that in 10 major economic cases, 6,350 billion tomans, including about 2 trillion tomans from Babak Zanjani's assets, have been transferred to the government through 'agency'. According to Fars News Agency, Abbas Jafari Dolat Abadi stated on Tuesday, June 1, that 6,350 billion tomans have been recovered 'for the benefit of public assets' through 'agency' in these 10 major economic cases. Mr. Dolat Abadi named the cases of Babak Zanjani, 'Rostami Safa', 'National Bank', 'Insurance Development', 'Petrochemicals', 'Moteqi', 'Hossein Qashmi', 'Afrashtapur', 'Rikhtegaran', and 'Didas' as these 10 major cases. He also reported the issuance of 236 indictments for defendants in economic cases in 2014 and 2015, stating that 113 economic defendants were convicted in these two years. Babak Zanjani and two other defendants in the oil case have been sentenced to death, restitution of property, and fines by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court, and according to Mr. Zanjani's lawyer, his case has been sent to the Supreme Court. The Iranian Oil Minister announced Babak Zanjani's debt to the government as about 10 trillion tomans, and the prosecutor's indictment accused Mr. Zanjani of having paid '160 million euros' out of the 2.7 billion euros he was obligated to pay to the oil company, spending the rest on personal matters. Mr. Dolat Abadi's statements come while Gholamreza Mahdavi, the lawyer for the National Oil Company, stated in March 2016 that not all of Babak Zanjani's assets are profitable, and some of his companies are 'indebted to banks, and this debt is increasing day by day'. No report has been provided by Iranian judicial officials regarding the details of some of the 10 major economic cases mentioned by the Tehran prosecutor, including the cases of 'Insurance Development', 'Petrochemicals', 'Moteqi', and 'Hossein Qashmi'. Reports about some of these cases have been previously published on various websites. In 2014, Tasnim News Agency reported the arrest of a borrower of '6,500 billion tomans', and the Saham News website, close to Mehdi Karroubi, named Mohammad Rostami Safa, head of the Safa Industrial Group and CEO of Saveh Profile Pipe Company, as the person of interest. In 2013, reports were also published about the arrest of the Rikhtegaran brothers on charges of 1.7 trillion tomans in bank debt. In July 2015, some media reported the release of these two brothers on a 600 billion toman bail. In 2014, reports about the arrest of Dariush or Hassan Afrashtapur by the Revolutionary Guards were also published. Hassan Afrashtapur, along with his two brothers Davood and Mehdi, owns several towers and companies. The Revolutionary Guards, in a statement referring to Mr. Afrashtapur's initials, noted that he had also been imprisoned in 1997 on charges of economic corruption and was released in 2001. In this context, following a request for reconsideration, Zanjani's case was sent to the Supreme Court. Zanjani's lawyer stated that his client's associates would not return the assets after the death sentence was issued. The death sentence for Babak Zanjani was communicated to his lawyer. The Iranian Minister of Justice stated that Zanjani's execution would not yield money.