Iranian ex-ministers sentenced in major trade corruption case

Former trade minister Reza Fatemi-Amin received a one-year sentence and former agriculture minister Javad Sadatinejad was handed two years after both found guilty of “complicity in disrupting the country’s economic system”.

The sentencing of former government officials marks a rare instance of high-profile figures being prosecuted in the Islamic Republic. Appeals and commutations have meant similar sentences are often not fully implemented.

The Debsh Tea scandal, one of the largest financial corruption cases in Iran’s history, involved financial misconduct amounting to approximately $3.4 billion. Investigations uncovered widespread fraud, including large-scale tea smuggling, currency manipulation and illegal acquisition of foreign exchange.

At the center of the scandal was the industrial group’s CEO Akbar Rahimi Darabad, who on Monday was sentenced to 66 years in prison for various economic crimes according to his spokesman, including organized smuggling and bank fraud.

Rahimi Darabad has also been required to return over €2 billion in received foreign currency facilities and pay fines for various smuggled tea shipments.

The two ex-ministers were among 44 individuals found guilty in the case, which allegedly involved Iran’s Central Bank and customs and various ministries, raising public concerns over the extent of economic misconduct in the country.

The investigation alleged that Debsh Tea had exploited government policies to acquire vast amounts of foreign currency at official exchange rates, later selling it at significantly higher prices on the open market.

The company also smuggled tea into the country without fulfilling tax and import obligations.