Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 1
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Former Iranian vice-president, Mohammad Reza Rahimi was sentenced to prison and fined, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the country's deputy head of Judiciary said.
The court has issued its verdict on the case, Ejei said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported Sept. 1.
The judiciary official refused to unveil further details on the issue, saying "meanwhile the issued sentence is tentative and not finalized, so I cannot reveal the details."
Rahimi, who served as vice-president from September 2009 to August 2013 during the administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been charged in several fraud cases so far, but according to some MPs, Ahmadinejad used his influence to prevent investigations about the cases in the courts.
In mid-August Mohsen Eftekhari, head of Tehran's Penal Court said that the legal process regarding the case of Rahimi has been finalized, adding the judges are writing the verdict.
However, he did not specify the charges against Rahimi.
In a fraud case against the Iran Insurance Company, a defendant claimed to have paid more than $1.2 million in bribes to Rahimi.
Rahimi has reported links to jailed Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani, chairman of Sorinet Group, who is accused of skimming up to $2.7 billion off illegal oil exports, as Ahmadinejad's government tried to bypass international sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.