Tehran, Iran, Feb. 26
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani who has been convicted of huge embezzlement charges and awaits his death penalty has hacked the emails of the country’s Oil Ministry, First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri has said.
Jahangiri quoted the ministry’s legal representative Asqar Hendi as having said that upon a visit, Zanjani showed him a list of emails the Oil Ministry had sent over the embezzlement case, Shargh newspaper reported February 26.
“Zanjani showed me the emails and drily asked ‘What are these emails you keep sending?’ which shows Zanjani is still connected to some power circles”, Jahangiri quoted the legal representative as having said.
Zanjani was arrested in December 2013 after accusations that he withheld billions of oil revenues, channeled through his companies while Iran was under sanctions. At the time he denied the accusations.
A court has ruled that that the 42 year-old businessman should receive the punishment of death, pronouncing him guilty of fraud and economic crimes.
A judiciary official, however, recently said that the court ruling to execute Zanjani had been postponed.
Iran's Attorney General Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri said that the tycoon will not be executed unless all of the money he owes to the country is paid back.
According to the official, a large part of money he owes to the country is held abroad, therefore he will not be hanged for as long as the debts are not paid back to the treasury.
During former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s term, Zanjani played a key role in helping the country bypass Western-imposed sanctions against Iran that restricted the country’s ability to receive the money for the oil it exported.
President Hassan Rouhani has criticized the death penalty saying the execution of the billionaire will mask the identity of the senior former officials who supported him.