Exposure of Another Aspect of Government Corruption in Iran; 3 Billion Euros of State Currency Allocated to ‘Two Famous Families’
While economic corruption cases remain open in Iran, this time the Shargh newspaper has published a report titled “3 Billion Euros in the Hands of Two Famous Families” examining an updated list of state currency recipients recently released by the Central Bank of Iran.
The Shargh newspaper, in a report published on Tuesday, Ordibehesht 17, announced that over the past year more than 10,000 real and legal persons have collectively received approximately 25 billion euros in currency equivalent to the dollar at the rate of 4,200 tomans from the Central Bank.
The newspaper reported that of this amount, more than 6.8 billion euros went to the top 25 companies on this list of 10,000, and among the currency-receiving companies, 3 billion euros was allocated to companies belonging to two famous families. However, Shargh did not specify who these famous families are.
Shargh also drew from the list of real and legal persons who had received half-official and state currency.
According to the report “in the past year, 798 people have collectively received more than 232 million euros in half-official currency; individuals who are sometimes managers or board members of companies that are also listed as legal entities among recipients of half-official or state currency.”
The report examined the list of real persons receiving half-official currency and stated that at the top of this list is a person named “Alireza Noorbakhsh,” who has received more than 14 million and 538 thousand euros in half-official currency.
Shargh, noting that Noorbakhsh’s name had previously been on the tongue of people when the list of half-official currency recipients for paper imports was released, and at that time media efforts to find a trace of Noorbakhsh among paper market activists had led nowhere, reported that this person, in partnership with “Hadi Asadi Ghiasavand,” established a company named “Taqdis Paper Tadbir” for the import and export of cellulose products and the preparation, purchase and sale of all types of raw materials needed for paper-making, box-making industries and related machinery. This company is also not recognized among paper industry players.”
“Hossein Beheshti” is the second name on the large list of half-official currency recipients, which Shargh mentioned and introduced him as a banana importer and apple exporter. According to the report, Beheshti received 8 million and 933 thousand euros in currency for “banana imports.”
However, the third person this newspaper addressed is “Mohsen Qadri,” who has received more than six million and 927 thousand euros in half-official currency.
Shargh wrote about this: “This Mohsen Qadri should not be confused with Mohsen Qadri, CEO of Shaparak Company, and about this Qadri it can only be said that he established a limited liability company called ‘Asia Gostar Qadri’ in December 2015 with a capital of one hundred thousand tomans with the purpose of importing and exporting all permitted commercial goods, foodstuffs and food materials, and appears to be active in rice imports.”
However, the increase in corruption and the formation of financial corruption cases in Iran has shown significant growth in recent months; cases in which current and former government officials are among the accused and some real figures are also recognized as “brokers.”
This scale of corruption comes at a time when economic crisis has also sparked a wave of public protests in Iran.
Previously, the United States has repeatedly pointed to the existence of corruption in the Islamic Republic’s government.
The U.S. State Department, in tweets on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, wrote about the wealth of Iran’s rulers and corruption of the Islamic Republic’s government apparatus that “Iran’s government is full of corrupt hypocrites.”
Source: Voice of America
