Tehran Prosecutor Requests 'Severe Punishment' for Babak Zanjani

After the 45-day deadline for Babak Zanjani to pay his debts expired, his trial resumed, and the prosecutor emphasized that Mr. Zanjani had taken 'no action' to settle his debts, requesting 'severe punishment' for the three defendants in the case. According to Fars News Agency, Reza Najafi, the prosecutor's representative, announced on Tuesday, February 8, in the twenty-fifth session of Babak Zanjani's trial that he had 'ample opportunity to pay his debt but has taken no action.' The Tehran Prosecutor's Office has accused Babak Zanjani of corruption, disrupting the country's economic system, large-scale fraud against the National Iranian Oil Company, fraud against the FIB Bank, forgery of banking documents and currency transfers, forgery of interbank transfer orders, money laundering amounting to 1.967 billion euros, and spreading false information. The judge has the authority to issue a death sentence for the charges of 'corruption' and 'disruption of the economic system.' Reports indicate that Hamid Fallah Heravi and Mehdi Shams are the other two defendants in this case. Abolqasem Salavati, the judge in Babak Zanjani's case, had previously announced in December that he had granted a one-month extension for Zanjani to pay his debts due to the presentation of a 'bill of exchange' from Zanjani in 'a foreign country and bank' to 'pay and guarantee payment' of his debt to the Iranian Ministry of Oil. A bill of exchange is a commercial document exchanged mainly between traders, instructing one party to pay a specified amount to another party or a third party. The previous one-month deadline set by the court expired on January 18, and the judge agreed to extend it at the request of Zanjani's lawyer. However, the National Iranian Oil Company announced that Babak Zanjani had taken no action to pay his debts, and his court session resumed. In the court session on Tuesday, Zanjani stated that the Central Bank of Malaysia had informed him that 'Iran's sanctions have not been lifted, only suspended,' which is why he could not pay his debt through a bank in that country. He claimed that he ultimately tried to pay his debt through 'a Chinese bank branch in Hong Kong,' but they also stated that they would 'only send the requested funds in the form of a check to the Malaysian bank.' According to Zanjani, six 'one billion' checks have been issued, which will be processed in the coming days by 'the Malaysian bank or their European brokers or Chinese and Hong Kong banks,' and he will pay his debt. Babak Zanjani and his lawyer had previously stated that as long as the Western sanctions against Iran are not lifted, it is impossible to deposit Zanjani's debt into the account of the National Iranian Oil Company. Ali Akbar Maharkhzad, the legal affairs manager of the National Iranian Oil Company, described these statements as 'pretexting' and stated that the company is willing to deposit its claim against Zanjani, even into accounts that are sanctioned and 'blocked,' to be transferred to Iran after the sanctions are lifted. Maharkhzad has previously accused Babak Zanjani and his lawyers of making claims of debt payment for the purpose of 'advertising exploitation, wasting time, and prolonging the trial.'