Judiciary continues arrests in embezzlement case

Iran's Prosecutor General said over 80 people have been investigated and 48 have been arrested in connection with the $2.6bln bank scam in the country."In the past three months, more than 80 people have been investigated as suspects in this case and if we add those with information pertaining to this case, the number will reach almost 100," Judiciary Spokesman and Prosecutor General Hojjatoleslam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said. "Out of those investigated, 48 ( people) were taken into temporary custody," he continued. Mohseni-Ejei also said that the judiciary has summoned some Iranian lawmakers over the case. "A number of lawmakers have been summoned and, as suspects, were asked some questions," he said. "The cases of some lawmakers are still open and are being investigated," he added. Nearly $2.6bln were swindled out of several Iranian banks in more than two years by a company named Amir Mansour Aria, owned by Amir Mansour Khosravi. Khosravi owns 38 factories, most of which are steel factories. He had registered a company with 200 billion rials ($20 million) five years ago. Khosravi had bought 230 acres of land on Kish Island and hundreds acres of land near Kashanak at the price of 16 rials (0.16 cent) per meter. Asked by reporters why the investigation process on the scandal had taken a long time, Mohseni-Ejei said "this was a big corruption... We need to know that 2.6 billion US dollars is not small money and the people (involved in the scandal) both did money laundering and escaped from paying taxes and heeding the laws, and this happened in collusion with some of the banks." Mohseni-Ejei, who was assigned on Sept. 15 to exclusively investigate the embezzlement case, said that the judiciary is under political pressure over the questioning of some governmental officials' involvement in the case. However, he said the judiciary is determined to push its responsibility ahead in spite of the pressures.