Hedayati's statements in court regarding the payment of 21 billion tomans to the former Iranian ambassador to Türkiye
Hossein Hedayati, a football investor, announced in his fifth court hearing that he had "given 21 billion tomans" to the former Iranian ambassador to Turkey and "two billion dollars" to the head of the Football Federation for the expenses of the national team.
According to ISNA news agency, Mr. Hedayati said in his court on Monday, March 17: "They call me a troublemaker because I took out a loan with collateral. I wish I could raise the issues of the Resistance Front and ISIS."
He did not provide further explanation for his remarks.
Mr. Hedayati's reference to the "Resistance Front" could be a reference to his possible financial support for the presence of Iranian military forces in Iraq and Syria.
He also said: "The Iranian ambassador to Türkiye took 21 billion tomans from me during the previous government, and after four years of issuing the indictment, his trial has still not been heard."
Mr. Hedayati did not mention the name of this ambassador.
Firuz Dolatabadi served as Iran's ambassador to Türkiye until 2006, Bahman Hosseinpour from 2008 to 2012, and Alireza Bigdeli from 2012 to 2015.
Mr. Hedayati also announced in his court hearing that he had donated more than 250 billion tomans to 14 sports federations.
He said: "Mr. Taj (the head of the Football Federation) has taken two million dollars from me, which he confirmed. I told Mr. Taj several times to get permission from the IRGC and the prosecutor's office to take money from me, but he said that I had introduced the names of three people to receive the money, and they said to take money only from Hossein Hedayati."
Mr. Hedayati also claimed that he paid "150,000 dollars" to the Volleyball Federation so that the federation could pay players as bonuses in the Polish tournament.
In the indictment, Hossein Hedayati is accused of owing 1,500 billion tomans to banks, including "Sarami Bank," "for the principal and delayed repayment" of loans he received.
He is also accused of receiving some of these loans through shell companies, and some of the collateral he deposited to receive the loan was worth 13 times less than the declared amount due to bribery.
According to the indictment, several workers, taxi drivers, and motorcycle couriers were appointed as CEOs of these shell companies.
During Monday's court session, Mr. Hedayati also criticized the fact that the case of Hossein Fereydoun, Hassan Rouhani's brother, is being held in private and his trial is being held in public.
In this meeting, Mr. Ghahremani, the prosecutor's representative, said: "In the case of the Sarmeh Bank, which has about 400 defendants, some of the defendants are fugitives... They have taken some money abroad and this case is in many twists and turns."
He also announced that indictments have been issued for eight directors of Bank Sarmeh, and that indictments for 32 directors will be issued after the Nowruz holidays.
Ali Bakhshayesh, Mohammad Reza Tavassoli, and Parviz Kazemi, three members of the board of directors of Bank Sarmeh, have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, 74 lashes, and permanent ban from holding government jobs.
According to the indictment read in court, the most important charge against Bank Sarmeh is "14 trillion tomans of embezzlement of the assets of the Farhangian Reserve Fund."
The main shareholder of Bank Sarmeme (47%) is the Farhangian Reserve Fund, and the current case came to light after corruption was discovered in this fund.
The Teachers' Reserve Fund has more than 800,000 members affiliated with the Ministry of Education and pays them annual interest on their monthly deposits.
Source: Radio Farda
