Interpol extradites former CEO of Bank Sarmeh to Iran

Iranian media say that Alireza Hyderabadipour, the former CEO of Sarmeh Bank who fled Iran, has been returned to Iran with the coordination of international police. This is the first time that Europe has returned an economic suspect to Iran.

Iranian news agencies have reported that Alireza Hyderabadipour, the former CEO of Sarmeh Bank and one of the defendants in a major economic corruption case, has been arrested by international police in Spain and returned to Iran.

Hyderabadipour had left the board of directors of Iran's capital bank during the initial investigation into the corruption case. He was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison on two charges of disrupting the economic system through breach of trust and acquiring illicit wealth.

Last year (June 2019), the Tehran prosecutor's office announced the arrest of Alireza Hyderabadipour in Spain, and now he has been returned to Iran after more than a year.

According to Iranian media, this is the first time an economic criminal has been deported from Europe to the country.

Brigadier General Hadi Shirzad, head of the International Police of the National Security Force, said upon the defendant's arrival at Tehran International Airport: "The defendant will be handed over to judicial authorities for legal proceedings."

"Grand Corruption Case"

Alireza Hyderabadipour was appointed CEO of Sarmeh Bank in February 2015 and was dismissed from this position about five months later in June 2016.

He was free on bail of five billion tomans, but in late 2018, during the initial investigation into the corruption case at Sarmeh Bank, he illegally left Iran.

The trial of the managers of Sarmeh Bank, who were accused of economic corruption and embezzlement, has been ongoing for several years, and so far seven of the defendants in the case have been sentenced to a total of 67 years in prison.

Ali Bakhshayesh and Mohammad Reza Tavassoli, former CEOs of Sarmeh Bank, and Parviz Kazemi, former chairman of the board, have been sentenced to prison.

Hossein Hedayati, who has been nicknamed "Aber Bank" by Iranian sports media, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for "money laundering, acquiring illicit wealth, and breach of trust" in this case.

Hadi Razavi was accused of paying bribes to managers of Sarmeh Bank with the aim of withdrawing approximately 107 billion tomans from the bank without depositing collateral and acquiring illegitimate wealth.

Abbasali Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, called the extradition of the fugitive CEO of Bank Sarmeh to Iran "an important step towards making the space unsafe for economic criminals."

According to ISNA, Kadkhodaei wrote on his personal Twitter page: “Security for economic activists, insecurity for economic criminals!”

Source: DW