July 24, 2020
above with fellow defendants, has been sentenced
to prison for corruption. He is the son of Maj. Gen.
Ataollah Salehi (right), who commanded the
Iranian Army for a dozen years.
A Revolutionary Court in Tehran has sentenced the son of a former commander of the Iranian Army to 10 years in jail for corruption.
Ammar Salehi, the only son of the retired Army commander, Major General Ataollah Salehi, who headed the force from 2005 to 2017, has also been banned for life from serving in the public sector, the Islamic Republic Judiciary spokesman announced at his news conference March 17.
Salehi was charged with receiving an “illegal loan” of more than $26 million from Bank Sarmayeh and “disrupting the economic order.”
Radio Farda said Bank Sarmayeh is “deeply mired in corruption investigations.” The main issue is the Iran Teachers Reserve Fund investments in the bank and the disappearance of nearly $3.5 billion of the fund’s money. Retired teachers have frequently protested over unpaid pensions.
The prosecutor said Ammar Salehi also used Bank Sarmayeh facilities to buy luxurious property in a posh neighborhood in Tehran, as well as a $154,375 Mercedes Benz.
Several trials concerning the bank have been held so far. In 2019, the bank’s former chairman, Parviz Kazemi, labor minister from 2005 to 2006 under President Mahmud Ahmadi-nejad, was sentenced to 20 years and 24 lashes.
Sarmayeh Bank managers Ali Bakhshayesh, and Moham-mad Reza Tavassoli have also been convicted.
