Two Ministers of Ebrahim Raisi's Government Sentenced to Prison in 'Dabesh Tea' Case

The spokesperson for the judiciary announced the issuance of final sentences for the defendants in the 'Dabesh Tea' case, stating that two ministers from Ebrahim Raisi's government were also convicted. Asghar Jahangir announced on Tuesday, March 4, that in this case related to 'disruption of the country's economic system,' Javad Sadatinejad, former Minister of Agricultural Jihad, was sentenced to two years in prison, and Seyed Reza Fatemi Amin, former Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, was sentenced to one year in prison. According to him, these sentences were issued after 'mitigation' and based on Article 6 of the law reducing punitive imprisonment, due to the 'weak involvement of the defendants in the commission of the crime.' The former Minister of Agriculture of Raisi's government had previously been sentenced to three years in prison on May 14 in connection with another corruption case known as 'animal feed.' The massive financial misconduct in tea imports, which later became known as the 'Dabesh Tea' case, was first revealed in December 2023 by the General Inspection Organization of the country. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary, stated in May that the embezzlement and corruption amount in the Dabesh Tea case exceeded 3.7 billion dollars, and so far, 45 people have been charged in this case, with investigations conducted on a larger number. The judiciary spokesperson stated on Tuesday that Akbar Rahimi Darabad, the CEO of 'Dabesh Tea,' was also sentenced to a total of 66 years in prison based on six charges, including organized smuggling of goods and large-scale disruption of the economy due to failure to fulfill currency obligations, or currency smuggling amounting to over 2.5 billion euros, among others. He was also sentenced to pay more than 244 trillion tomans in fines, which, according to Islamic Penal Code regulations, only the most severe sentence can be executed. The CEO's conviction to pay this amount comes while the Mizan news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, reported on March 4 that the total assets, both movable and immovable, identified and seized from the Dabesh group during preliminary investigations were valued at only 30 trillion tomans. According to this report, in the first part of this case, indictments were issued for 61 defendants, and a court was held, with 59 others also being charged. The judiciary has also published sentences issued for several other defendants, which include imprisonment, financial penalties, and flogging.