Iran’s oil minister accuses former officials of $2.7 billion oil fraud
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has claimed that former ministers under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration cooperated with billionaire Babak Zanjani to steal $2.7 billion in government money.
Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh accused officials from Iran’s previous administration of giving $2.7 billion worth of oil and loans to former businessman and billionaire Babak Zanjani with an understanding that revenue from the sale would never be returned to the Oil Ministry.
“Some took [the oil] and did not give the money back, and it was never even agreed for them to give the money back,” Zanganeh said in a television interview. “They didn’t make a mistake. It was intentional. The team of Babak Zanjani that took [the oil] did not want to give back the money.”
Zanjani was one of the individuals tasked with selling Iran’s oil under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency. Zanjani’s connections to banks and businesses overseas helped Iran evade sanctions on its oil and financial sectors.
Zanganeh also claimed that Zanjani was given Oil Ministry loans to pay contractors but kept the money himself. He said that Zanjani also created a bank to which more than $2 billion of the government’s money was given with the approval and signatures of the head of the Central Bank and several of Ahmadinejad’s ministers.
