Unveiling of a New Embezzlement Case in Iran; 244 Fake Marriage Loans Issued in Qom

The public prosecutor of Qom announced the discovery of "embezzlement accompanied by forgery" in the issuance of 244 marriage loans in Qom and the issuance of an indictment against a bank manager. Hassan Gharib stated, "The accused forged official identity documents and marriage certificates of families that were not eligible for marriage loans and obtained 244 marriage loans." According to the public prosecutor of Qom, a bank manager, aware of a problem in the Central Bank's system, forged identification documents for 122 couples from elderly families in a village in the western provinces and registered 244 marriage loans with these documents. Experts believe that economic corruption has become one of the pillars of the Islamic Republic, and reviewing the news confirms their claim; as numerous reports of organized violations in various sectors are published, which are only part of the reality. Accordingly, on Saturday, December 2, the media center of the judiciary announced that the General Inspection Organization reported the discovery of at least $1.4 billion in currency corruption for tea imports, emphasizing that this amount will reach $2 billion with new calculations. It was also announced that no goods were imported in exchange for this amount of currency received. In this context, another case can be mentioned where Iranian media confirmed on October 2 the arrest of two children of the first deputy of the judiciary due to "abuse and economic corruption," which had intensified speculation in the days prior. According to the security-affiliated news agency Tasnim, at that time, the two children of the first deputy of the judiciary were arrested during the investigation of a case involving an individual named "Rostami Safa," who was referred to as "one of the major bank debtors." The news of the arrest of the children of Mohammad Mosaddegh Kohanmoei, the first deputy of the judiciary, was first revealed on the program "Final Page" by Voice of America until Massoud Setayesh, the judiciary spokesman, announced in a press conference in October this year without naming, "the arrest of 2 children of one of the judiciary officials." Damon Mohammadi, an analyst, previously stated to Voice of America regarding the exposure of financial corruption reports in the Islamic Republic that embezzlements can occur in the banking system when "the path of golden signatures and extralegal orders" has been opened, and we have seen that "it is always in disputes between power blocs that these embezzlements have been revealed."