Reports Published on Arrest of IRGC ‘Commander’ Accused of Leaking Audio File on Corruption of IRGC Commanders
Published reports indicate that Mohammad Ghaeemi, former director of the liquidation committee of the Yas Holding affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been arrested and has been in prison for more than two months without access to a lawyer.
The “Rooyeshomar 24” website, while confirming the arrest of Mr. Ghaeemi, expressed lack of knowledge about the reasons for his detention. However, some media outlets have reported that he was arrested mainly due to leaking an audio file concerning corruption among IRGC commanders, which Radio Farda first published.
The “Iran Watch” website referred to Mohammad Ghaeemi as an IRGC “commander” and wrote that he is in temporary detention “following a possible complaint by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf” and still does not have access to a lawyer.
These reports do not mention the detention authority by name, but it appears that Mr. Ghaeemi was arrested by the IRGC’s Information Protection Organization, which is headed by Hossein Taeb, one of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s main supporters in the Islamic Republic system.
The audio file pertained to a confidential meeting in 1397 [2018-2019] between Mohammad Ali (Aziz) Jafari, then commander-in-chief of the IRGC, and Sadegh (Mirzahasan) Zoulqadr, former deputy for economic affairs and construction of the IRGC, regarding corruption among forces related to the IRGC’s Quds Force, the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, and Tehran Municipality. The file was released by Radio Farda on February 10 of the previous year [2024].
In this audio file, whose authenticity was confirmed by an IRGC spokesman, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, then Tehran mayor, was accused by Sadegh Zoulqadr, then IRGC deputy, of attempting to forge documents to cover up eight trillion tomans in wasted money at the IRGC Cooperative Foundation.
Mr. Zoulqadr explicitly stated that Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, then Tehran mayor, was deeply unhappy with action being taken on a corruption case related to the municipality and the IRGC Cooperative Foundation. After Jamalalddin Abromand’s team discovered that eight trillion tomans were missing from the Cooperative Foundation, Qalibaf asked him to sign an eight trillion toman memorandum of understanding to resolve the matter.
The “Yas Economic Development Group Company,” known as “Yas Holding,” was the main arm of the IRGC Cooperative Foundation that operated in the fields of services, brokerage, and housing, and effectively served as the treasury of the IRGC’s Quds Force.
The Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported on February 25 that Yas Holding was established by IRGC officials because “the government at the time [the Rouhani administration] was unwilling to support fighters in the field.” The holding “was supposed to provide necessary financial resources to support the resistance front by implementing development projects.”
Senior managers of Yas Company operated under the supervision of Qasem Soleimani, then commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force. According to Mohammad Ali Jafari’s account in the audio file, Qasem Soleimani was dissatisfied with the measures taken against those involved in the corruption case at the IRGC holding: “He was unhappy with your treatment [of the economic deputy] and the IRGC Information Protection against Yas. He said I also went to the Master [Khamenei].”
Yas Holding was dissolved after widespread corruption emerged, leading to the arrest of some of its managers in 1396 [2017-2018]. The amount of one of the corruption cases related to this holding was announced as thirteen trillion tomans.
Mohammad Ghaeemi, himself an IRGC member, was tasked with liquidating the holding’s assets after its dissolution. He is mentioned as a financial provider and adviser to Saeed Mohammad, a candidate in the 1400 [2021] presidential election, who was disqualified in that election.
After the audio file was released, Mr. Ghaeemi informed the public during a Twitter conversation with Mohammad Saeed Ahadiyane, an adviser to Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, that the Yas Holding violation file contained “185 volumes,” with only the indictment “first 5 volumes issued and the second phase indictment is underway.”
He added that “in the first phase indictment, only one of the fourteen accused was convicted of returning 480 billion tomans in embezzled funds and 20 years imprisonment.” He was referring to Issa Sharifi, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf’s deputy during his tenure as Tehran mayor, whose name was mentioned as the first accused in this case.
The Yas Holding case was tried in a military court, and the Islamic Republic’s judiciary claimed that sentences of imprisonment and asset return have been issued for some of the accused. However, no information from this major financial corruption case has been made available to the public.
Source: Radio Farda
