Starting the trial of one of the biggest Iranian auto-part producers is one of the hottest headlines of last few days in Iran. The “Ezam Group Holding” that claims is being the greatest auto-part producer in Iran, is composed of several companies that are expert in this field.
According to the judge “Salavati” (for name search in Wikipedia) that is one of the most famous judges of the special criminal court of the Iran Islamic Revolutionary Court for financial crimes, the file has 7 accusers four of them working for the Iran Customs Office. These defendants may even be subjected to the toughest crime title that is : “The corrupter on earth” for which the accuser could be convicted to death penalty. Using such special word that is an Islamic term for several crime types at the indictment presented to the court by the Attorney General shows the importance of this criminal file.
The Ezam Group being at the position of the biggest producer of the auto-parts has also been the biggest importer of the processing machinery for plastics and rubber (The left image shows one of the group’s production halls).
The main allegation against this holding and its several staffs, including the CEO of the Ezam Group (Mr. A. Iravani) which just a few months ago received the top award of the “Best Industry” from the VP, is the organized smuggling of auto parts in a professional way.
The first defendant, the CEO of the holding, is charged for the financial crimes including; Corrupter on Earth due to majour disruption in the country’s bulk economical system through organizing and leadership of the group, organized criminal gang trafficking of automobile parts, assisting in forging documents, assisting in the use of official documents, assisting in the payment of bribes and participating in the escape of the some accused people.
Second defendant Amir Reza Rafiei, is the deputy of the sale department of the group, accused of complicity in major disruption to the country’s economic system; participation in organized and professional trafficking of auto parts; bribery; deputy in forging acts; Defendant’s deed and participation in escaping.
The last 4 defendants are 3 Customs Officers all accused of receiving bribes, participating in organized and professional trafficking of auto parts. However the main out of the holding accuser is a simple customs clearance expert that has been charged with participation in major disruption to the country’s economic system, participation in organized and professional smuggling of auto parts, forgery, use of official documents, use of the forged stamp of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
It is not yet known that if the 3 top men of a great auto part producer would be charged with the highest possible penalty (either death penalty or life imprisonment) what will happen to thousands of employees and staffs of the group? This is a big question, as great as the defendants names and their holding, that no one can guess.
Related article published at PIMI channel was: Hashemi; Trade and Production Means Corruption Here
