The
businessman, Babak Zanjani, and two of his associates were sentenced to
death for money laundering, among other charges, the spokesman,
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi, said in remarks broadcast on state
television. He did not identify the two associates. Previous reports in
the state news
media said the three had been charged with forgery and
fraud.
“The
court has recognized the three defendants as ‘corrupters on earth’ and
sentenced them to death,” Mr. Ejehi said. “Corrupters on earth” is an
Islamic term referring to crimes that are punishable by death because
they have a major impact on society. The verdict can be appealed.
A
news website run by the judiciary identified the associates as Mahdi
Shams, a British-Iranian businessman who was detained in 2015, and Hamid
Fallah Heravi, a retired businessman.
Mr.
Zanjani was arrested in 2013, shortly after the election of President
Hassan Rouhani, who ordered a crackdown on alleged corruption during the
eight-year rule of Mr. Ahmadinejad, his hard-line predecessor. Mr.
Zanjani owes about $2.25 billion for oil sales he made on behalf of Mr.
Ahmadinejad’s government, Iran’s Oil Ministry has said.
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| Babak Zanjani in Court |
The
financial dealings of Mr. Zanjani, who amassed a fortune estimated at
$14 billion, have also aroused suspicion in the West. He was blacklisted
by the European Union in 2012 and by the United States in 2013 for
violations of the sanctions imposed on Iran in connection with its nuclear program.
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