The Deputy Head of Iran’s Central Bank, Hamid Pour-Mohammadi, has been told to resign in connection with the $3-billion bank fraud, Iranian media report.
The Mehr news agency reports that Pour-Mohammadi has been advised to resign before he is dismissed from his position, and the report indicates his resignation is imminent.
Pour-Mohammadi is reportedly in charge of supervising the banking system, and reports say his “weak actions” in addressing the illegal actions of those involved in the embezzlement case are at the root of his impending resignation.
Mahmoudreza Khavari, the head of Iran’s Melli Bank, recently resigned from his position, apologizing to Iran’s Supreme Leader and the Iranian people for the involvement of some Melli bank branches in the fraud.
Khavari left Iran for Canada soon after his resignation, raising many eyebrows. Yesterday, Prosecutor General Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei advised him to return and answer to the rumours circling about him.
Khavari was scheduled to return to Iran on Thursday, but so far there has been no word of his return.
The head of the Bank of Saderat, Mohammad Jahromi, who was dismissed from his position after the bank fraud was uncovered, has alleged that Khavari left the country due to the “widespread corruption” that developed in the bank under his watch.
Eight Iranian banks are involved in the recent fraud case, which saw $3 billion embezzled through fake letters of credit over the past four years. The Bank of Saderat and the Melli Bank are said to have sustained the heaviest losses.
