DUSHANBE, March 7, 2016 Asia-Plus – International media outlets report Iran has sentenced billionaire Babak Zanjani to death.
Justice officials reportedly say billionaire Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani has been sentenced to death for corruption.
Two others were sentenced to death along with him and all were ordered to repay embezzled funds. The ruling can be appealed.
Zohreh Rezalee, a lawyer for Zanjani, told the
BBC
the verdict was politically motivated and an appeal would be lodged. “We believe that Babak Zanjani in this case is just a debtor,” the lawyer said.
We will recall that Babak Zanjani was arrested by Iranian police on December 30, 2013 for his alleged role in a corruption scandal. Some days later, the then spokesman from the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), Abdughaffor Qurbonov, denied any cooperation between Zanjani and the bank and claimed all documents presented by Zanjani about their two-way communications were fake.
Some media sources reported at the beginning of last year that Iranian legislator Amir Abbas Soltani, who is a member of the investigative committee to find the money allegedly embezzled by Babak Zanjani, said that Zanjani’s representative had paid 3 million U.S. dollars to one of deputy heads of Tajik central bank for falsification of money transfer documents.
Besides, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh reportedly said in an interview on state television on August 11, 2014 that Zanjani used the Tajikistan branch of his own bank, First Islamic Investment Bank, to funnel the money out of Iran.
Tajik central bank denied allegations that Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani gave bribe to one of deputy heads of Tajik central bank as absolutely baseless.
“We have repeatedly denied any cooperation between Zanjani and Tajik central bank,” NBT former head Abdujabbor Shirinov stated at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 20, 2015.
“Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani has no property in Tajikistan,” Qodir Qosim told reporters in Dushanbe on January 27, 2015, noting that Babak Zanjani participated in an official opening of the Dushanbe renovated bus terminal on March 12, 2013 as a honorable guest but not as an investor.
Some sources, however, say Babak Zanjani’s Tajik empire includes a bank, an airline, a taxi service and a bus terminal.
Hussein Dehdashti, one of members of the special committee for investigation into Babak Zanjani’s case, told Iranian newspaper
Shargh
in an interview last year that 1/15 of Babak Zanjani’s capital is now in Tajikistan.
The investigative committee to find the money allegedly embezzled by Babak Zanjani was reportedly set up in 2013.
Iran’s investigative authorities said in April last year that property and assets belonging to Babak Zanjani in Tajikistan have been revealed and they are currently waiting for lifting of Western sanctions for retrieving them to Iran.
According to Iranian media outlets, Hussein Dehdashti informed Iranian parliamentarians about that. According to him, a part of Zanjani’s property in Tajikistan has already been revealed and all necessary documents have been submitted to Tajikistan’s judicial authorities.
Zanjani’s property and assets in Tajikistan have reportedly been revealed in the course of an unofficial inspection carried out by representatives of the investigative committee in Tajikistan.
One of Iran”s richest men, Zanjani was blacklisted by the US and EU for helping Iran evade oil sanctions.
In April 2013, Zanjani and his business conglomerate Sorinet were sanctioned by the US Treasury. He was reportedly tasked under the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad administration with helping Iran evade sanctions by selling its oil and transferring the money through overseas banks.
Dubai-based Sorinet Commercial Trust Bankers (SCT Bankers) and Malaysia-based First Islamic Investment Bank (FIIB) were reportedly designated for providing financial, material, technological or other support for Naftiran Intertrade Company Ltd (NICO) and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
Turkey-based Kont Kozmetik was designated for being owned or controlled by Babak Zanjani.
Founded by Zanjani in 2007, Kont Kozmetik in 2011 bought Kont Investment Bank in Tajikistan. Kont Investment Bank owns 100 percent of shares in Asian Express Airline, which on its part, assumes the 100 percent ownership in Dushanbe’s Bus Terminal.
Representatives of Kont Investment Bank do not deny that Kont Invest Bank was founded by Babak Zanjani, but they say that now a Turkish citizen assumes the 100 percent ownership interest in Kont Investment Bank.
