Free Republic

Iran's Press TV is reporting that Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the head of Bank Melli, fled to Canada after resigning for his alleged role in the embezzlement scandal Our columnist Muhammad Sahimi compiled the following news items and commentary: The Ministry of Economic and Financial Affairs announced that several senior banking officials have been sacked in the wake of the embezzlement of close to $3 billion. According to the statement by the ministry's public relations office, Mahmoud Reza Khavari (pictured), chief operating officer of Bank Melli -- Iran's largest bank -- and Farzad Ahmadi, a member of the bank's board of...

London, Jan. 05 - Iran's Bank Saderat has lost a third of its foreign partners because of unilateral sanctions by the United States, the Financial Times quoted the institution’s managing director as saying on Saturday. In an interview with the Financial Times, Hamid Borhani said that of 600 foreign banks that used to do business with Bank Saderat before the U.S. imposed sanctions in September 2006, some 200 had halted their transactions. Borhani said that Middle Eastern banks were continuing contacts and becoming the institution’s top foreign partners, as sanctions shifted trade from west to east. China became Iran’s main...

U.S. slaps sanctions on Iranian bank over missile programs (Kyodo) _ The Treasury Department said Tuesday it has cut off Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for developing missiles. The sanctions, issued under a presidential executive order aimed at freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, prohibit the bank's any transactions in the United States and freeze any assets it may have under U.S. jurisdiction. "Bank Sepah is the financial linchpin of Iran's missile procurement network and has actively assisted Iran's pursuit of missiles capable...

On December 19, 2007, a U.S.-based law firm succeeded in freezing the funds of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in France on behalf of American clients who, in the judgment of U.S. courts, were victims of terrorist attacks sponsored by the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Iran has been using its state institutions as agents of the terror activity it perpetrates throughout the world. The funding for this terror activity is partly provided via Bank Melli and sometimes also via Bank Saderat. Bank Melli also played a pivotal role in financing the 1994 AMIA bombing in Argentina. AMIA was...

A bank fraud scandal of unprecedented proportions is shaking domestic politics in Iran. Several of Iran's largest banks have been swindled out of an estimated $2.6 billion. The scandal has sparked a widening investigation with more than 30 arrests so far. It has also led to charges that some of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's closest advisers were involved. On its face, it appears it was easy for some of Iran's most important bankers to steal so much money. All they did was secure falsified letters of credit from several key banks, and money started flowing into the accounts of an investment...

The UK-based Daily Telegraph has reported that Iranian assets are being funneled back to Teheran using financial intermediaries in Dubai. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly authorized the transfers as fears rise that Iranian financial institutions may come under European Union sanctions. The Iranian media has reported that the move caused tension between the president and the governor of Iran's central bank, Tahmaseb Mazaheri, and that Mazaheri may resign as a result. Mazaheri took over the leadership of the central bank in 2007, as he replaced outgoing governor Ibrahim Sheibani who resigned due to Ahmadinejad's moves to influence the central bank's...

London's Terror Bank August 21, 2008 In the war on terror, the U.S. has had no greater friend than the United Kingdom. And as the U.S. economy continues to suffer under the burdens of Sarbanes-Oxley, our British friends have demonstrated a more sensible approach to financial regulation. For both of the preceding statements, however, there is an exception. Even as the U.K. stands with us in rallying the world against doing business with Tehran, an Iranian bank with a history of financing terrorism continues to operate in London. On September 8, 2006, the U.S. Treasury announced it was cutting off...

Iran's largest bank blacklisted From correspondents in Washington September 09, 2006 THE US Treasury Department announced overnight that it had blacklisted one of Iran's largest banks, Bank Saderat, from having any links with US-owned banks. The move effectively cuts Iran's state-owned Bank Saderat off from conducting any business linked to the US financial system. The Treasury Department said it blacklisted Saderat because of its "support for terrorism." "Bank Saderat facilitates Iran's transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations each year," said Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence. "We will no longer allow...