Zanjani: The Ministry of Intelligence Requested No Trace of Operations in Malaysia Remain

In his ninth court session, Babak Zanjani claimed that the former Iranian Ministry of Intelligence sent him a letter requesting that 'no trace of his operations in Malaysia should remain.' According to Tasnim, the ninth session of the trial regarding Babak Zanjani, who is accused of financial corruption, was held publicly on Monday, October 16, in Branch 15 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Salavati. In this session, Zanjani discussed his dealings with the Malaysian bank and the statements of the oil company's lawyer regarding an $86 million transaction with the Malaysian bank, stating: 'The Deputy Minister of Intelligence sent a written letter to Mr. M-Sh and requested that I adhere to the following points. The letter from the Ministry of Intelligence stated that the SCT company and the Malaysian bank are the only lifeline for the system in these hard days, and Zanjani should leave no trace of his operations in Malaysia.' According to Zanjani, 'this letter was sent via a secure email' from M-Sh to him. The imprisoned businessman, in the ninth session of his trial and after the reading of complaints from the Housing Bank and the Social Security Organization, continued his defense by saying: 'So far, the only one who has spoken the truth is the legal representative of the Social Security Organization; my previous defenses led to a €15 billion loan from a sheikh, and at this stage, my defenses were halted, and the HK company and the oil company jointly read their complaints.' The main accused in the oil case added: 'I do not know whether the lawyer of the oil company or HK read their complaint or if the prosecutor read the indictment instead; a complaint is a document that is filed at the beginning of the process. The oil ministry's complaint was filed, according to the investigator, in 2014, and the oil company's lawyer formulated questions based on the response.' Zanjani pointed out that 'the oil company's lawyer is not in a position to formulate an indictment against me,' stating: 'If the oil company's lawyer has read the defense statement, woe to his client; because not only has he not helped his client but he has come to take away a reputation while blinding an eye.' The main accused in the oil case further stated: 'I consider this defense to be a confession or a divine miracle in these hard days; in the first part of my defense, I pointed out that the accumulation of oil and its disposal or sale was on the agenda of the Ministry of Oil, which was confirmed by the oil company's lawyer.' Zanjani also announced that 'the oil company's lawyer accused him of theft and compared him to thieves, and for this reason, he will file a complaint against this lawyer for defamation.' 'Having three IDs is treachery or Karsanat' Babak Zanjani, continuing his defense, referred to the oil company's lawyer's claim that he has several copies of IDs and a criminal record regarding issuing bad checks and accepting stolen checks, saying: 'If I open Karsanat, Jihad Construction, oil sales to India, and the Asia Bank, it will become clear whether having three copies of IDs is treachery or a loss of 20 to 30 billion tomans to the country.' This financial corruption accused further stated: 'The Ministry of Oil has security, and therefore the necessary inquiries regarding me have been made; anyone who undertakes a significant task will certainly face legal problems and various accusations.' Babak Zanjani, in response to the complaint from the HK company, stated: 'I am very grateful to the oil company's lawyer for helping me significantly in reading their complaint because when my collections fell into the hands of oil managers, they removed all my letters from the company so that I would not have access to those letters.' He added: 'The oil company's lawyer stated in his complaint that Zanjani sent several letters to the Ministry of Oil; you stated in your complaint that letter number ISO207 was written to the minister and indicated that documents were needed for the clearance of oil shipments, and the minister ordered that the documents be sent.' Zanjani explained that 'this is the same issue I mentioned in the first part of my defense; I helped the Ministry of Oil unload oil shipments in the Malaysian warehouse and then transferred it to the Fal company warehouse, and I was never given any documents, and I only did this according to transit law.' According to Babak Zanjani, he has written several times to the minister to send these documents to Mr. M-Sh, but nothing has happened so far. 'You didn't provide the documents and are requesting funds' This financial corruption accused continued his defense by saying: 'When no documents have been transferred to me, why do you unjustly transfer your shortcomings to me and want me to return funds to you when nothing has been given to me?' He added: 'The oil company's lawyer stated in his confessions that they have 11 contracts for oil sales with me, while in each contract, the buyer and seller must be specified, and both parties must sign the contract; the Ministry of Oil and the HK company making such a claim cannot even show one contract that I have signed.' Babak Zanjani further pointed out that 'of all the shipments sent, only 2 waybills have been delivered to him,' saying: 'These two waybills belonged to someone I gave to the Al-Aqili company at your request, and the HK company received forty million dollars from Al-Aqili and remained a hundred million dollars in debt.' In another part of his defense in the ninth session of the trial regarding his charges, he stated: 'In essence, Al-Aqili is the well-known M-S from whom the Ministry of Oil claims five billion dollars, and they say its place is safe; so add this hundred billion to that five billion, which is also safe.' 'Wherever it benefits you, the Malaysian bank becomes legal' Another part of Babak Zanjani's defense in the ninth court session was dedicated to the Malaysian bank and its controversies. In this session, Zanjani addressed the oil company's lawyer, saying: 'You had taken the advance payment, and when you were not delivering the waybill, what did you expect me to do your job quickly? They say the Malaysian bank was a tool and their counterpart was Babak Zanjani; my question is, is it correct that wherever it benefits you, the Malaysian bank gains legal status, and wherever your interests are not involved, this bank becomes a tool?' The accused in the oil corruption case added: 'Who determines whether the Malaysian bank is legal or not and whether it has been used as a tool? You are not in a position to question the country's managers.' So far, nine sessions of the trial regarding Babak Zanjani and two other oil defendants named 'M-Sh' and 'H-F-H' have been held publicly in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided over by Judge Salavati, where the prosecutor's representative has read a 237-page indictment against the defendants in the first three sessions. From the fourth session, the reading of Babak Zanjani's 200-page defense began. According to IRNA, the tenth session of Babak Zanjani's trial will be held publicly on Wednesday, November 17.