Former Head of Iranian Red Crescent Society Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison
Ali-Asghar Peyoudi, the former head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, has been sentenced to “12 years imprisonment, flogging, dismissal from government service, asset forfeiture, and payment of double the embezzled amount” on financial charges.
Several Iranian news agencies reported the news on Wednesday, October 30, citing “informed sources.”
Mehr News Agency reported that Mr. Peyoudi has been “sentenced to 12 years of punitive imprisonment, asset forfeiture, and payment of approximately 140,000 euros, as well as permanent dismissal from government service.”
He was arrested on December 3, 2019, on charges of “embezzlement and illegal seizure of Red Crescent Society assets” by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Before the announcement of Mr. Peyoudi’s arrest, news of his resignation from the Red Crescent Society presidency was released, which was confirmed by the organization’s public relations director.
Tasnim News Agency reported that Ali-Asghar Peyoundi “was accused of receiving 680 million in illegal allowances, unlawful acquisition of 40,000 euros from the Red Crescent Society’s procurement organization, 60,000 dirhams from the Red Crescent Hospital in Dubai, and unauthorized seizure of Red Crescent Society funds.”
According to the report, the former head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society has also been sentenced to “74 lashes of punitive flogging,” in addition to imprisonment and permanent dismissal from government service.
According to media reports, Mr. Peyoudi was also arrested on November 2, 2019, in connection with a case related to his tenure as head of Shahid Beheshti University and was released after a few hours on a bail of three billion tomans.
Mahmoud Sadeqi, a representative of Tehran in the tenth parliament, leveled accusations against Mr. Peyoudi, referring to “corruption and embezzlement at the Iranians Hospital in Dubai, the Taleghani Building, the Mahabad Project, and the Azgol Land Project.”
Some media outlets have written that Mr. Peyoudi is related by family to Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s former president. However, he stated that he is from Sorkhe Saman, Semnan, and is a fellow townsman of Hassan Rouhani, but has no family relation to the former president.
Source: Radio Farda
