New Report Released: Qalibaf Had Provided “60 Billion Tomans” in Aid to His Wife’s Charity
Several Iranian media outlets have published details from a comprehensive report on widespread violations by Tehran Municipality in 2015, which was presented to Tehran City Council about two weeks ago.
These media outlets, referring to matters such as “extensive aid to a charity belonging to the wife of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf” and “hidden bank accounts,” have described them as “shocking.”
The “Integrated Audit Report on the Financial Statements of Tehran Municipality in 2015” was read at the meeting on the sixth of Mordad in Tehran City Council and the council “conditionally accepted” it.
Based on details published by the “Khabar Online” website on Saturday and Monday, the 12th and 14th of Mordad, the audit report of Tehran City Council includes numerous widespread violations by Tehran Municipality in 2015, under the leadership of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
According to Khabar Online, some of the violations mentioned in the city council’s audit report include “47 hidden bank accounts,” “the judiciary’s debt of 229 billion and 700 million tomans to the municipality and its non-payment,” “the municipality’s claim of 497 billion tomans from the Sepah Cooperative Foundation,” “payment of 60 billion tomans in aid as well as the allocation of lands with an area of 70,000 square meters, 7,000 square meters and 3,000 square meters to Imam Reza Charity belonging to Qalibaf’s wife” and “the purchase and sale of a metro station.”
The city council’s audit report on Tehran Municipality’s performance in 2015 contains 132 items, and Khabar Online has published 23 items so far.
About two weeks ago, after two four-hour sessions, Tehran City Council finally announced that all 132 items of the audit report “were conditionally accepted.”
According to IRNA news agency, “conditional acceptance is generally raised due to lack of access to sufficient information and evidence.”
Although representatives from Tehran Municipality responded to some of the matters raised in city council meetings, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the former mayor, has not yet reacted to the published reports.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf served as Tehran’s mayor for twelve years from 2005 to 2017, and criticisms of “his and his associates’ corruption” have always been a matter of discussion in Iran. During his tenure as mayor, a member of the Expediency Discernment Council sent a letter to the head of the judiciary requesting legal investigation into the municipality’s “violations” and wrote that the “irregular practices” of Tehran Municipality have spread to other cities and provinces and are “considered one of the factors in the spread of corruption, social disorder, creating resentment among people and reducing their confidence in the system.”
Widespread criticism of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf continued even after he stepped down, and subsequent mayors, including Mohammad Ali Najafi and Morteza Alviri, accused him of politicizing the municipality and institutionalizing corruption.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council by decree of the Leader of the Islamic Republic.
Source: Radio Farda
