Rabiee on ‘Missing’ $4.8 Billion: Court of Accounts Report is ‘Not Comprehensive’

In the ongoing dispute between the Court of Accounts and the government over the ‘disappearance’ of nearly $5 billion during payments for commodity imports, Ali Rabiee, spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government, confirmed the statements of the head of the Court of Accounts regarding sending his report to Hassan Rouhani before publication.

Mr. Rabiee, however, said that this report was ‘not comprehensive’.

Meanwhile, Ghasem Mirzayee Neko, representative of Damavand in parliament, called for the names of 32 individuals to be announced who, according to the Court of Accounts report, received government currency but did not import goods.

According to the IRNA news agency, Ali Rabiee, government spokesman, said on Monday, the first day of Ordibehesht, that the Court of Accounts report was prepared in December 2019, and the $4.8 billion mentioned in it has been reduced to $3 billion.

He said that the government identified violations and informed the individuals in question that if they do not import goods by the specified date, their files will be sent to the Judiciary Organization.

Mr. Rabiee added: “It would have been better if the government was asked what happened in its wake and these two issues were published together so that it would clarify public opinion and not raise any suspicions in public opinion.”

The head of the Court of Accounts announced on Tuesday, the 26th of Farvardin, in a report in the parliament’s open session that during the distribution of 4,200-toman currency, $4.8 billion was paid by the government but did not have ‘any corresponding goods imports’.

But one day later, Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, called the report “100 percent wrong.”

In response to these comments, Adel Azar, head of the Court of Accounts, announced that Hassan Rouhani had seen his institution’s report on the non-import of goods in exchange for $4.8 billion in government currency before its publication and had “no objections” to it.

In the Court of Accounts report, it was announced that 32 real and legal persons did not import goods into the country in exchange for receiving government currency.

Meanwhile, Ghasem Mirzayee Neko, representative of Damavand, in an interview with the Imtedad Telegram channel, called for the names of these 32 people to be announced.

The government spokesman on Monday also announced, without referring to details, that a number of cases in this regard have been sent to the judiciary.

Meanwhile, Ebrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary, said on Monday that verdicts have been issued for some cases and others remain open in the prosecution.

On Saturday, the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office also announced in response to the Court of Accounts report that files have been formed for individuals who received government currency but did not import goods, and some defendants have been sentenced to prison.

In this announcement, Ghorbanali Farakh Zade, Mohammad Khormipour, Timour Ameri Barki, Ali Reza Ameri Barki, Morteza Fallah Ashteri, Hamid Reza Moradi, Ali Zarnani and Yousef Jannat Makan were named as some of the people who have been sentenced to prison in this regard.

Following the allocation of government currency for commodity imports, various reports were circulated regarding the misuse of the received currency by some importers, and some importers were accused of supplying imports made with government currency to the market at free rates.

Source: Radio Farda