Zanjani in the Seventh Court Session: I Currently Have 22 Billion Euros in Cash

Babak Zanjani, on Tuesday, November 10, during his seventh court session, protested against the price set by judicial experts for his assets in the country, stating that he has "22 billion euros in cash." According to Fars News Agency, Mr. Zanjani said, "I wanted to mention this on the last day of the court, but since you forced me, I will say that I currently have 22 billion euros in cash." He added, "Of course, I was supposed to mention this on the last day of the court when they say Zanjani has no money." Regarding the reason for removing some of his assets, including rings, watches, four cars, and two motorcycles from the list of confiscated properties, he said, "I don't want my car to be used by Zangeneh and reach the oil collection; burn these assets but do not give them to oil." He also announced that due to sanctions, he transferred some of his assets abroad to a person named "H. Sh. M." Babak Zanjani did not provide further explanation about his claimed "22 billion euros in cash." Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the Iranian Parliament's Energy Commission, had previously stated that Zanjani had "25 billion euros" saved in "Japanese banks" and if he intended to pay his debts to the Ministry of Oil, he would have done so by now. In the court session on Tuesday, Babak Zanjani objected to the price set for his assets, including "1.5 billion tomans chandeliers" in his office, "Kish Trading Company," "22 airplanes," "a villa in Dubai worth 40 million dirhams," and several buildings in Iran, claiming that these assets were undervalued. He also stated that he purchased the "Iran Zamin project" building from the Revolutionary Guards in 2009. According to Mr. Zanjani, a three-member committee, one of whose experts was "a former minister," valued this land at 1,760 billion tomans, which is lower than its actual value. Morteza Turk, deputy prosecutor of Tehran, also stated that there is a difference of opinion regarding the valuation of this land, with some estimating its price at 600 billion tomans and others at 1,700 billion tomans. According to IRNA News Agency, Mr. Turk announced that Babak Zanjani's assets in Iran are estimated at "around 2,600 billion tomans." Babak Zanjani had previously stated in a letter published by Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of Parliament, that in exchange for importing parts for the Sadr Bridge for the Tehran Municipality, he received "density" and was "forced" to build the Iran Zamin project. In the court session, Babak Zanjani also mentioned that "listening devices" located in his company's building automatically recorded the statements of oil company representatives during the valuation of his assets. He accused the oil ministry representatives of intending to undervalue his assets. However, Morteza Turk rejected Mr. Zanjani's claims, stating that the asset valuation committee was "three-membered" and it was agreed that expert opinions would be presented collectively, and all three members must reach a consensus. In another part of his speech, Babak Zanjani stated that by purchasing two airline companies in Ukraine in 2008, he brought "22 airplanes" into Iran and then, using his "connections," filed a complaint "against his own collection" and registered these airplanes in the "name of the Islamic Republic of Iran." He also mentioned that Iran Khodro did not have money to pay its employees' salaries in 2009, and he lent "400 billion tomans" to this company. According to Mr. Zanjani, ultimately this company did not honor its checks, and for this reason, he became 100 billion tomans indebted to Bank Sarmayeh. Babak Zanjani had previously stated in court sessions that at the request of Bank Maskan managers, he deposited 67 billion tomans into the account of a person who had not paid his debt to this bank so that the bank managers would not be accused of misconduct. Meanwhile, according to Tasnim News Agency, Morteza Turk stated in the court session that "when Zanjani pays the debt of a fugitive defendant abroad amounting to 67 billion tomans, he does not take any guarantees, and it is unclear what reward he was supposed to receive for his good service from the CEO of the bank involved in the case." Mr. Turk added, "Mr. Zanjani had stated that he wanted to meet with a person named Rostam to learn how to pay the debt. This request and the necessary arrangements were made, but still, there was no news of the return of the money." In the court session on Tuesday, Mr. Najafi, the prosecutor's representative, rejected Babak Zanjani's claim of receiving a "15 billion euro" loan from a person named "Sheikh Hashir" in Dubai. According to Mr. Najafi, Babak Zanjani claimed that the information about this 15 billion euro loan is located in the "joint office" of him and the "Ministry of Intelligence." In the court session on Tuesday, Judge Abolqasem Salavati, the head of Babak Zanjani's court, announced that a "cooperating prison officer" with Mr. Zanjani "is in custody, and his case is under investigation in the Government Employees Court." In this session, the prosecutor's representative also reported that Babak Zanjani's sister had been "arrested" and quoted her as saying that an officer named "F" had taken about 10 letters from Babak Zanjani from inside the prison for him. According to Mr. Najafi, Babak Zanjani, in these letters, asked his employees to "forge" documents regarding the "source" of his money and submit them to the case investigator. He referred to a letter from Babak Zanjani to one of his employees named Ms. "Ch," saying, "Zanjani wrote in one of these letters to deliver a copy of this file and PDF to Mr. 'A' in the Ministry of Intelligence, and 'Ch' also said that we sent it several times by courier, and once in April, we went to the Ministry of Intelligence in person with Zanjani's sister, who stayed in the car while I went to Mr. 'A.'" The prosecutor's representative did not provide an explanation regarding the "joint office" of Babak Zanjani and the Ministry of Intelligence and the reason for submitting files related to Babak Zanjani's accounts to the Ministry of Intelligence. Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the committee following Babak Zanjani's case in Parliament, had previously accused the Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Economy, Central Bank Governor, and Minister of Oil of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government of being "involved" in Babak Zanjani's case.