Arrest of Several Health Ministry Employees on Corruption Charges
Saeed Namaki, Iran’s Health Minister, stated that several employees of the ministry have been arrested on charges of “financial corruption, misuse of state foreign currency resources, and importation of expired medicines” and are currently under interrogation and have made confessions.
Saeed Namaki, Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education, said on Tuesday, July 25 (July 16) to reporters: “Some individuals who cooperated with violating companies in the Food and Drug Organization have been arrested and are under interrogation and have made confessions. We are determined to prepare the Food and Drug Organization in complete purity to serve the people.”
According to IRNA, Saeed Namaki emphasized: “For approximately four months, groups have been working covertly on the currency that was received by companies importing medical equipment. Regarding where this currency was spent and who received it, some individuals committed violations that we are currently investigating and will take legal action against these cases.”
According to Iran’s Health Minister, in some cases expired medicines have been imported into the country. Additionally, with 2 million euros of state currency, instead of “heart stents,” “power cables” were imported. “There are also cases where state currency was received, equipment was imported and transferred to the private sector.”
The Health Minister asked the media for help in fighting corruption. He said “One of our problems is that individuals who have been abusing for years have media connections, and in the fight against corruption, our greatest leverage is the clean media we have in the country. To break through the poisoned propaganda atmosphere of this current that does not want to allow the truth to be revealed, we need the help of the media.”
The Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Education visited parliament on Sunday, July 23 to attend the health commission. After attending parliament, he wrote on his Instagram: “Rent, corruption and monopoly networks in a thousand and one ways feed from the people’s pocket and offer the medicines needed by people in the black market, hoard them in visible and hidden warehouses and distribute counterfeit medicines in the market.”
Saeed Namaki announced that the economic corruption network spends billions to destroy him and his ministry, but he will not back down from pursuing, identifying and exposing this network.
The Health Minister said: “Along with the Food and Drug Organization, they had created a system whose server was located outside these borders and only a few people had access to its information. We have been working on this issue for four months. One billion and 300 million dollars of medical equipment currency was spent and it is still not exactly clear who took it, what was brought and to whom it was given.”
Source: DW
