An Iranian court sentenced four bankers to death on July 30 for a mult-billion-dollar fraud scheme that tainted the government of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Out of the 39 people indicted in the US$2.6 billion bank loan embezzlement scheme, four were sentenced to death by hanging, two were sentenced to life in prison, and other received sentences of up to 25 years.

In addition to jail time, some were sentenced to flogging, ordered to pay fines and banned from government jobs.

Iranian state television did not name the bankers sentenced, only giving out their initials. Pictures of the convicted were shown with their faces blurred out.

According to the indictment, the owners of the Aria Investment Development Company, which is at the center of the controversy, had bribed bank managers to get loans and letters of credit. The company has more than 35 affiliates which are active in diverse business activities.

The scandal, which erupted last year, raises questions over the government’s rapid privatization drive, which many claim benefited allies of Ahmadinejad and the political elite.


Amir Mansoor Khosravi (L) and Ahmadinejad
The man alleged to be the mastermind of the scheme, businessman Amir Mansoor Khosravi, is said to have forged letters of credit from Iran’s Bank Saderat to fund dozens of companies and buy a state-owned steel factory.

Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former head of Iran’s biggest bank, state-owned Bank Melli, resigned over the affair and fled to Canada where records show he owns a $3 million home, Iranian and Canadian news agencies reported.

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, one of Ahmadinejad’s closest aides, was accused of having ties to the scandal. Ahmadinejad’s economy minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, survived an impeachment vote last year, where members of parliament accused him of lax banking supervision.

Prosecutor general Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei held the case up as an example of Iran being able to handle high-level corruption, and administer suitable punishment.

But one of the defendants in the case claimed he and his fellow accused were being scapegoated while senior officials in the scandal had gone unpunished.

That's the way these banksters need to be dealth with.

Good for Iran.