Oil Ministry embezzlement of 100 billion tomans; suspect flees to Canada three hours after summons
Days after contradictory reports about a major financial corruption case in Iran’s government agencies, a member of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly revealed that the suspect fled the country to Canada just three hours after being summoned by the supervisory authorities.
On Sunday, Asadollah Gharekhani, spokesperson for the Parliament’s Energy Commission, confirmed that the suspect in this embezzlement case obtained an airplane ticket to Canada with his wife’s help just three hours after being summoned regarding his financial violations and fled the country.
On Friday, Iran’s Oil Minister confirmed that one of the oil ministry’s managers is accused of embezzling 100 billion tomans and has left the country.
Iranian Oil Ministry officials say this manager had been with the ministry for more than 30 years, but his financial misconduct was discovered after the software system was changed. According to Mr. Gharekhani, when officials in this department became aware of the irregularities, they summoned this person, and at the same time they were reviewing the files more carefully, they discovered the embezzlement. After notifying him, they realized that this person had left his office.
It is unclear which supervisory agency discovered this suspect’s violations, but the spokesperson for the Parliament’s Energy Commission criticized financial oversight agencies such as the State Audit Organization and the Court of Accounts for why they had not detected this suspect’s financial corruption over ten years.
Futile efforts, another Khavari case
On Friday, Iran’s Oil Minister said the name of this person had been referred to Interpol, but it appears this action has been ineffective and is more reminiscent of the escape of Mahmoudreza Khavari, the former head of Iran’s Bank Melli, during a 3,000 billion toman embezzlement.
In that case, Mr. Khavari was one of the accused who was charged with receiving a three million dollar bribe, but under the pretext of attending a working meeting in London, with the help of senior officials in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, he left Iran and went to Canada, where he had residency.
Iran and Canada do not have an extradition agreement, and it appears that returning this Oil Ministry suspect will meet the same fate as Khavari. Particularly since in the 3,000 billion toman embezzlement case, the primary accused—Mahafreed Amirkhosravi—was ultimately executed, these suspects will demand not to be returned to Iran on human rights grounds.
Cutting off a sheep thief’s hand while the embezzler escapes
The issue of this suspect’s escape has generated significant discussion in cyberspace. Some, referring to the severing of a sheep thief’s hand in Khorasan, have compared it to the 100 billion toman embezzlement:
ديروز ائمه جمعه به غير از دعاى باران افاضات ديگرى هم كردند. در روزى كه دست گوسفند دزدى قطع شد و وزارت نفت از فرار عامل اختلاس ١٠٠٠ ميليارد تومانى (٢٣٠ ميليون دلار) جناب علم الهدى خواهان افزايش حقوق طلبه ها شدند، https://t.co/sQWYefC4gl
— Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi (@AbdohEhsan) January 20, 2018
The manner in which the 100 billion toman embezzlement suspect was summoned has also drawn criticism from some users, with one user comparing it to how students are treated:
طرف دانشجوعه اگه یذره بهش شک کنن شب یهو میریزن خونهاش خودشو گوشی و لپتاپ و هرچی داره و نداره باهم میبرن، اون یکی ۱۰۰ میلیارد بالا کشیده براش احضاریه فرستادن میای اینجا؟ اونم گفته نوموخوام بیام، من میرم خارج اصن. :|||||
— آسپیلی کوعتا (@azpilliqueta) January 21, 2018
Some have also criticized public and media indifference:
برای ما ارقام اختلاسها به خبری تهی از معنا تبدیل شده و برای همسایگانمون ارقام کشتهها و مهاجرین #خاورمیانه https://t.co/aTja79tIPV
— siavash fallahpour (@SFallahpour) January 20, 2018
Source: Voice of America
