Five of the 32 could face the death penalty if convicted because they were charged with “corruption on earth,” a capital offense in Iran.
The record embezzlement case involves $2.6 billion and revolves around the use of forged documents by the heads of the Amir Mansur Arya Investment Company, which attempted to secure loans to buy state-owned companies under a government-run privatization scheme. The case also implicates officials from seven of Iran’s largest banks.
“The activities of the Amir Mansur Arya Investment Company is an example of an organized gang that has undermined the economic security of the society,” said Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, as he read out the introduction to the 220-page indictment.
The company “took the first step by establishing dubious connections with certain administrative and political elements and bribed them with the aim of accelerating administrative procedures to acquire wealth,” the indictment read.
The indictment also says that bribes were paid to the heads and other administrative employees of several banks, including former Bank Melli head Mahmud-Reza Khavari, who is accused of having received $3 million from the Amir Mansour Arya Investment Company. Khavari fled to Toronto last year; he holds Canadian citizenship.
Among those accused of receiving bribes are “bodies of the executive branch of the government,” charges that have dragged President Ahmadi-nejad’s government into the scandal.
The president’s hard-line rivals have accused his close aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, of having close contacts with one of the main defendants of the case, Mah-Afarid Amir-Khosravi, the director of the Amir Mansour Arya Investment Company.
Ahmadi-nejad’s office has rejected any links to corruption, but the case could have political costs for him as the March parliamentary elections draw closer.
Amir-Khosravi pleaded guilty to some charges but denied others. He said the Bank Melli head was supposed to take measures to lift his company’s credit ceiling after receiving $2 million of the $3 million that he ultimately pocketed before fleeing to Canada.
Amir-Khosravi said that although he did violate some laws, he had no intention of committing treason against the country. “If I wanted to do so, I would have taken the money out of the country,” he argued.