Posted on Mar 10, 2016
WORLD | Iranian mogul gets death penalty for embezzling billions in oil money | Anna K. Poole |...
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The taxman cometh in the USA has a much different penalty potential in Iran as billionaire Babak Zanjani and two accomplices were condemned to death on charges of fraud and forgery. If those were capital crimes in this country their would be millions on death row.
"One of Iran’s wealthiest businessmen owes the national government $2.7 billion in oil profits covertly collected during the nation’s economic sanctions—and faces the death penalty unless he reimburses the sum. Over the weekend, well-known billionaire Babak Zanjani and two accomplices were condemned to death on charges of fraud and forgery.
A judicial spokesman branded the trio as “corrupters on earth,” a strong Islamic term reserved for death-deserving criminals guilty of damaging society.
The verdict, which came after a nearly five-month trial, can be appealed.
Zanjani, worth an estimated $14 billion, rejects the charges, and his lawyer claimed the tycoon is “just a debtor,” not a corruption-spreader.
But President Hassan Rouhani believes otherwise.
“What people want to know is, who gave him the permission to sell oil and where did all the money go?” Iran’s president asked in a meeting this week, adding, “If we find a corrupt person, we need to identify the roots and dry them up because we [cannot] have economic revival in a society where corruption is present.”
Whether Zanjani is a debtor or a corrupter on earth, the court will execute him unless he can repay the money Iran’s Oil Ministry claims he owes. According to a recent Bloomberg Business report, Zanjani hasn’t written a check—yet.
“Whenever we see the money back in our bank account, we will say that he has cooperated,” Justice Minister Pour Mohammadi told the Iranian Students News Agency on Tuesday. “So far, we haven’t seen him cooperate.”
Iranian authorities arrested Zajani in December 2013, shortly after Rouhani’s election. The new president ordered a crackdown on alleged corruption during the eight-year rule of his hardline predecessor. Local officials say Zanjani collected billions in oil sales on behalf of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government. Many also accuse Zanjani of playing a vital role in helping Iran skirt international oil sanctions.
A news website run by the Iranian judiciary identified one of Zanjani’s associates as British-Iranian businessman Mahdi Shams, who was detained in 2015, and the other as Hamid Fallah Heravi, a retired businessman.
This isn’t the first batch of Iranian businessmen to receive a death sentence on charges of money-laundering. In 2014, billionaire mogul Mahafarid Amir Khosravi was executed for spearheading a bank scam totaling about $2.6 billion. That particular scandal implicated 39 people: four got a death sentence, two a life sentence, and the rest got up to a quarter century in prison.
The day of Zanjani’s sentencing hearing, 1 million barrels of Iranian crude landed in Europe, marking the country’s first authorized oil shipment since it emerged from economic sanctions in January. Five years ago, Iran’s oil-pumping rate was a striking 3.6 million barrels a day. But the nation’s economy took a major hit in 2012 when the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program. The sanctions temporarily halted oil sales and exports like caviar, Persian rugs, and pistachios."
"One of Iran’s wealthiest businessmen owes the national government $2.7 billion in oil profits covertly collected during the nation’s economic sanctions—and faces the death penalty unless he reimburses the sum. Over the weekend, well-known billionaire Babak Zanjani and two accomplices were condemned to death on charges of fraud and forgery.
A judicial spokesman branded the trio as “corrupters on earth,” a strong Islamic term reserved for death-deserving criminals guilty of damaging society.
The verdict, which came after a nearly five-month trial, can be appealed.
Zanjani, worth an estimated $14 billion, rejects the charges, and his lawyer claimed the tycoon is “just a debtor,” not a corruption-spreader.
But President Hassan Rouhani believes otherwise.
“What people want to know is, who gave him the permission to sell oil and where did all the money go?” Iran’s president asked in a meeting this week, adding, “If we find a corrupt person, we need to identify the roots and dry them up because we [cannot] have economic revival in a society where corruption is present.”
Whether Zanjani is a debtor or a corrupter on earth, the court will execute him unless he can repay the money Iran’s Oil Ministry claims he owes. According to a recent Bloomberg Business report, Zanjani hasn’t written a check—yet.
“Whenever we see the money back in our bank account, we will say that he has cooperated,” Justice Minister Pour Mohammadi told the Iranian Students News Agency on Tuesday. “So far, we haven’t seen him cooperate.”
Iranian authorities arrested Zajani in December 2013, shortly after Rouhani’s election. The new president ordered a crackdown on alleged corruption during the eight-year rule of his hardline predecessor. Local officials say Zanjani collected billions in oil sales on behalf of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government. Many also accuse Zanjani of playing a vital role in helping Iran skirt international oil sanctions.
A news website run by the Iranian judiciary identified one of Zanjani’s associates as British-Iranian businessman Mahdi Shams, who was detained in 2015, and the other as Hamid Fallah Heravi, a retired businessman.
This isn’t the first batch of Iranian businessmen to receive a death sentence on charges of money-laundering. In 2014, billionaire mogul Mahafarid Amir Khosravi was executed for spearheading a bank scam totaling about $2.6 billion. That particular scandal implicated 39 people: four got a death sentence, two a life sentence, and the rest got up to a quarter century in prison.
The day of Zanjani’s sentencing hearing, 1 million barrels of Iranian crude landed in Europe, marking the country’s first authorized oil shipment since it emerged from economic sanctions in January. Five years ago, Iran’s oil-pumping rate was a striking 3.6 million barrels a day. But the nation’s economy took a major hit in 2012 when the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program. The sanctions temporarily halted oil sales and exports like caviar, Persian rugs, and pistachios."
WORLD | Iranian mogul gets death penalty for embezzling billions in oil money | Anna K. Poole |...
Posted from worldmag.com
Iran
Crime
Death Penalty
Faith
Edited 4 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
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LTC Stephen F. Yes I read this. He was in charge of/involved in helping the Iranian government launder money. The government was fully aware of his actions during the time he was helping them. The scheme allowed Iran to receive payments for oil sales by laundering the money through bank accounts located in foreign accounts. He is being used as a scape goat because the EU outed him in reporting violations of the sanctions placed on Iran. In Iran and the ME this case is a hot topic and many are upset with the ruling.
"On IranWire’s Facebook page, one person pointed out that there were two sides to the scandal, and that it was ridiculous to punish only the people responsible for selling goods illegally. A just system would ensure that both the buyer and the seller faced punishment. He also attacked Iran’s judicial system: “Laws about ‘corruption on earth’ and ‘fighting God’ are made-up laws. They are the laws of the jungle,” he wrote, adding that these charges belonged to the “time of Khalkhali” — referring to Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali, known as the hanging judge responsible for large numbers of executions in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.
There was widespread condemnation of the sentence, with dozens of people insisting that it was not the role of judiciary to decide whether a person lives or dies."
"On IranWire’s Facebook page, one person pointed out that there were two sides to the scandal, and that it was ridiculous to punish only the people responsible for selling goods illegally. A just system would ensure that both the buyer and the seller faced punishment. He also attacked Iran’s judicial system: “Laws about ‘corruption on earth’ and ‘fighting God’ are made-up laws. They are the laws of the jungle,” he wrote, adding that these charges belonged to the “time of Khalkhali” — referring to Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali, known as the hanging judge responsible for large numbers of executions in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution.
There was widespread condemnation of the sentence, with dozens of people insisting that it was not the role of judiciary to decide whether a person lives or dies."
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