Oil Ministry embezzlement of 100 billion tomans; accused fled to Canada three hours after being summoned
A few days after contradictory news reports about a major financial corruption scandal in Iranian government agencies, a member of Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly revealed that the accused had left the country three hours after being summoned by the oversight body.
On Sunday, Asadollah Qarakhani, spokesman for the Parliament's Energy Commission, confirmed that the accused in this embezzlement had bought a plane ticket with the help of his wife and fled to Canada just three hours after being summoned about his financial misconduct.
On Friday, Iran's Oil Minister confirmed that one of the managers of the Ministry of Oil was accused of embezzling 100 billion tomans and left the country.
Iranian Oil Ministry officials say that the manager had been in the Oil Ministry for more than 30 years, but his financial misconduct was revealed after the software system was changed. According to Mr. Gharahani, when the department's officials noticed the deviations, they summoned the person and, when they examined the files more closely, they realized that there was embezzlement. After they informed him, they realized that the person had left his office.
It is not clear which regulatory body noticed the defendant's violations, but the spokesperson for the Parliament's Energy Commission criticized financial regulatory bodies such as the General Inspectorate of the country and the Court of Accounts for not noticing the defendant's financial corruption over the past ten years.
Useless effort, another east
On Friday, Iran's Oil Minister said that the name of this person had been provided to the international police or Interpol, but it seems that this action was of no use and is more reminiscent of the escape of Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of the National Bank of Iran, during the embezzlement of three trillion tomans.
In that case, Mr. Khavari was one of the defendants who was accused of receiving a bribe of three million dollars, but under the pretext of attending a business meeting in London, with the help of senior officials in the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he left Iran and went to Canada, where he resided.
Iran and Canada do not have an extradition agreement, and it seems that returning this Ministry of Oil defendant, like Khavari, will not lead to any results. Especially since the first defendant in the embezzlement case of three trillion tomans - Meh Afarid Amir Khosravi - was ultimately executed, these defendants will demand not to return to Iran on human rights grounds.
Cutting off the hand of a sheep thief, the escape of an embezzler
The issue of the escape of this embezzlement suspect has received a lot of attention in cyberspace. Some have compared it to the embezzlement of 100 billion tomans, referring to the cutting off of the hand of a sheep thief in Khorasan:
Yesterday, Friday imams made other offerings besides praying for rain. On the day a stolen sheep's hand was cut off and the Ministry of Oil escaped from the embezzlement of 1000 billion tomans ($230 million), Mr. Alam al-Huda called for an increase in students' salaries, https://t.co/sQWYefC4gl
— Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi (@AbdohEhsan) January 20, 2018
The manner in which the suspect in the embezzlement of 100 billion Tomans was summoned has also drawn criticism from some users, with one user comparing it to the way students are treated:
If the students suspect him even a little, they'll suddenly break into his house at night and take his phone, laptop, and everything he has and doesn't have. They'll send him a summons for 100 billion. Are you coming here? He said he doesn't want to come, I'm going abroad. :|||||
— Aspilliqueta (@azpilliqueta) January 21, 2018
Some have criticized the indifference of the public and the media:
For us, the figures of embezzlement have become meaningless news, and for our neighbors, the figures of deaths and refugees #MiddleEast https://t.co/aTja79tIPV
— siavash fallahpour (@SFallahpour) January 20, 2018
Source: Voice of America
