Iran sentences 4 to death in biggest bank fraud case

Four people were sentenced to death on charges of corruption and disrupting the country’s economic system by the Iran Judiciary. The four are Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi, Behdad Behzadi, his legal advisor, Iraj Shoja, his financial solicitor and Saeed Kiani Rezazadeh, head of the Ahvaz branch of Saderat Bank. Other defendants were handed down sentences including imprisonment and cash fines. The defendants stood trial for misappropriating a total of USD2.6 billion of funds by using forged documents to obtain credit from banks to purchase state-owned companies. However, almost none of the companies involved in this case were ordered closed by the court.