Iran’s billionaire tycoon Babak Zanjani has been sentenced to death for corruption, a judicial official said on Sunday, after a long trial in which he was accused of fraudulently pocketing $2.8 billio
Iran’s billionaire tycoon Babak Zanjani has been sentenced to death for corruption, a judicial official said on Sunday, after a long trial in which he was accused of fraudulently pocketing $2.8 billion.
Zanjani became notorious during the era of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, finding ways to channel hard currency from oil sales to Tehran despite financial sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic’s banks as punishment for its nuclear programme.
The 41-year-old was convicted of fraud and economic crimes. As well as facing the death penalty, he must repay money to the state, judiciary spokesperson Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie said at his weekly press conference.
The trial was held in public, a rarity for such a major case in Iran, and two other accused were also convicted of “corruption on earth”, the most serious offence under the country’s criminal code, meaning they too will face the death penalty.
“The preliminary court has sentenced these three defendants to be executed, as well as paying restitution to the plaintiff,” Mr Mohseni-Ejeie said, adding that that was the oil ministry.
