Deputy Alaeddin Borujerdi, the chairman of the Majlis National Security Committee, was taken off to jail last week, media reports said. But he only remained behind bars overnight, as Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani intervened to free him.
It isn’t known if charges have yet been filed against Borujerdi or what role he is alleged to have played in the giant scandal.
At the same time, Hamid Pur-Mohammadi, the vice governor of the Central Bank charged with overseeing the banking system, was also arrested Saturday, several newspapers reported.
He has been under heavy criticism for weeks with many officials demanding that he resign or be fired for failing to uncover the fraud. His arrest suggested that investigators suspect he is guilty of crimes of commission and not just omission.
Many Majlis deputies have been assailing the Ahmadi-nejad Administration and freely accusing named and unnamed officials of a role in the fraud. The arrest of Borujerdi has allowed Administration officials to counterattack. They have produced a letter they say shows deputies from both the principleist and reformist factions in league with Mahmud-Reza Khavari, the former head of Bank Melli, who fled to Canada last month.
The daily Etemad said five deputies have been implicated in the fraud, including Borujerdi.
A Majlis investigative report, meanwhile, cited by name Economy Minister Shamseddin Hossaini and his deputy, Asghar Abol-Hassani, plus several bank managers, saying they failed to take appropriate action to foil the fraud, but not asserting they were part of the fraud and profited from it.
Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossain Mohseni-Ejai, who is in charge of the investigation, announced last week that 33 people were under detention for roles in the fraud. He named none of them. He said another 67 people have been questioned about the case.
The one name he cited was Khavari’s, saying Iran was trying to have him returned to Iran from Canada. “We haven’t use Interpol yet, but if it is needed, we will use Interpol,” he said. However, Interpol can be of no help. It doesn’t do arrests. It just notifies police forces around the world of suspects being sought. But everyone knows where Khavari is. The difficulty for Iran is that it has no extradition treaty with Canada.