Judiciary hack exposes Mehdi Taj's money laundering and corruption charges
Documents leaked after the judiciary was hacked revealed allegations of money laundering and corruption against Mehdi Taj, the son-in-law of the former president.
After the hacking of the judiciary by the "Justice Ali" hacking group, documents were obtained showing that "Ali Taj", born on June 18, 1986, has faced legal proceedings and lawsuits with allegations of financial corruption since his early youth due to his economic cooperation with his father, Mehdi Taj.
In September 2018, Khabar Online, citing the Sports World magazine, published a report on the children of sports managers who have emigrated from Iran or are engaged in big business inside the country. In the published report, “Ehsan Kafashian”, son of Ali, former head of the Football Federation, “Ali Soltanifar”, son of Masoud, then Minister of Sports, “Mojtaba Davarzani”, son of Mohammad Reza, former head of the Volleyball Federation, “Mohammad Hossein Saket”, son of Mohammad Reza, then CEO of Sepahan, and “Mohsen Aliabadi”, son of Mohammad, former head of the Physical Education Organization, were the most prominent Aghazadehs.
Now we come across the name "Ali Taj", the son of "Mehdi Taj", who has always been in the shadows, who is in charge of a significant part of his father's activities and has even become so close to his father in his style of speaking that no one can distinguish him from his father over the phone.
In August 2020, when the financial and economic corruption of Mehdi Taj and his family was slowly being exposed, he used the following phrase in an interview: "My son Ali has no connection to football, oil, or steel." This claim was made by Mehdi Taj, while his son Ali had power behind the scenes that led to his influence on the presence of "Ebrahim Shakouri" in the Football Federation and his role in the selection of "Hamid Esteli" as the manager of the Omid team.
According to documents released by the "Justice Ali" hacking group from the judiciary, the Supreme Council for Combating Money Laundering filed a complaint against "Azam Khalili", the wife of "Mehdi Taj", on September 15, 2012, at the Tehran District 32 Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office (Economic Crimes). Azam Khalili's name would be revealed 6 years later in November 2018 by "Yashar Soltani". Azam Khalili's name was included in documents related to the illegal purchase and sale of land by Mehdi Taj, the current head of the Football Federation.
Yashar Soltani had claimed that Azam Khalili and Ali Taj were involved in money laundering for the benefit of Mehdi Taj, and the Supreme Council for Combating Money Laundering had filed a complaint against Azam Khalili for the same crime. Azam Khalili's case was closed in June 2013 under the title "Issuing other decisions at the appropriate time," and on June 16 of the same year, the Supreme Council for Combating Money Laundering filed a complaint against Azam Khalili and Ali Taj again with the Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of money laundering, when he was only 27 years old.
In July 2014, Branch 6 of the 32nd District Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office again declared the case closed as "other decisions will be issued at the appropriate time."
The aforementioned case was closed and the complaint process remained behind the scenes until February 2019, when the money laundering case of Azam Khalili and Ali Taj had not been investigated. Mehdi Taj, his wife, and his son, along with security institutions and government organizations, including the IRGC's Cultural Intelligence Organization and the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation, filed a complaint against Yashar Soltani on charges of spreading lies. Three months later, Branch 1057 of the Criminal Court of the Tehran Government Employees Judicial Complex convicted Yashar Soltani on charges of "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system" and "threat and disclosure of people's secrets."
Among the documents leaked by the "Justice Ali" hacking group, there is one document that is very noteworthy, and that is the complaints that were filed in a group of all of them in joint files due to the economic activities of the Taj family. The plaintiffs in the relevant case include the "Head Office of the 28th District Prosecutor's Office of Tehran Government Employees", the "Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran", and the "General Inspection Organization" who filed a complaint on March 22, 1401 against Mehdi Taj, Ali Taj, and Azam Khalili for "acquiring wealth through illegitimate means", "false reporting", "fraud", "issuing false reports", "wasting public and government property and funds", and "forgery of official documents", and immediately 11 days later, the case was declared closed in favor of the Taj family.
In another case, Mehdi Taj and his son Ali are named as defendants, in which charges of fraud, waste of money, disruption of the country's monetary or currency system, and interference with state property were raised in the industrial companies "Caspian Foolad Ghadir" and "Caspian World Foolad", while Mehdi Taj had previously claimed that his son Ali had no role in steel or football. Contrary to Mehdi Taj's claims, his son Ali has been involved in both steel and football. He even submitted his academic thesis in 2010, exactly one year after his father temporarily stepped down as president of the Football Federation and when he still maintained his influence in the Football Federation, on "Relations between managers and employees in the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran" in collaboration with "Mohammad Reza Esmaeili" and "Jasem Manouchehri".
Other complaints have been filed against Ali Taj, including more than 7 complaints on the grounds of economic corruption. Hacked documents from the judiciary show that Ali Taj had begun laundering money and tampering with government property since he was in his early twenties.
Embezzlers and economic corruptors like Ali Taj, who are always in the shadows, never think that one day all their corruption, embezzlement, and theft will be exposed.
