Babak Zanjani (Persian: بابک زنجانی, born 12 March 1974)[1] is an Iranian billionaire and business magnate. He was the managing director of the UAE-based Sorinet Group, one of Iran's largest business conglomerates.[3] In late 2013, he was arrested and accused of withholding $2.7 billion of government money owned by the Ministry of Petroleum, while facilitating Iran's oil revenue, which was hindered by the sanctions against Iran.
Zanjani was convicted of corruption and sentenced to death. In 2021, while awaiting execution, the Supreme Court of Iran indicated that the sentence would be commuted when his debts to the Iranian government were paid, and stayed his sentence, pending return of the embezzled funds. Several commentators have stated that Zanjani is perhaps a "fall guy" for corruption scandals in Iran.[4][5][6]
Sorinet Group
Sorinet Group (Persian: گروه شرکتهای سورینت) is an Iranian business conglomerate. The company is one of Iran's largest business conglomerates. Sorinet businesses include cosmetics, finance and banking, hospitality, commercial aviation, infrastructure, building material, information technology and international real estate development. It operates in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Tajikistan, Malaysia, China. He also owned Qeshm Airlines and Rah Ahan Sorinet F.C. in Iran.[7][8]
In 2013, Zanjani stated that his net worth was $13.5 billion.[9]
EU sanctions against Iran
Zanjani was named in the restrictive measures against Iran in December 2012 by the Council of the European Union on the grounds of "assisting designated entities to violate the provisions of the EU regulation on Iran and is providing financial support to the government of Iran".[10]
Zanjani was claimed to be "a key facilitator for Iranian oil deals and transferring oil-related money".[11] He denied the accusation, declining any ties with the Iranian government and calling the Europeans' decision "a mistake".[12]
The EUsanctions against Iran describe Zanjani as "a key facilitator for Iranian oil deals"[13] and transferring oil-related money and accused the Malaysia-based First Islamic Bank of being used to channel Iranian oil-related payments.[12] Zanjani said the complex nature of his companies' large sums of transactions might have misled EU authorities. Zanjani's companies were involved in the Labuan—Iran oil smuggling on the eastern coast of Malaysia. Labuan had been serving as a drop-off spot for Iranian crude.[14]
Alleged dual nationality
In January 2013, an Iranian news website, Baztab, reported that Zanjani holds a Danish passport in addition to his Iranian one, a claim which Zanjani later denied. He called the passport's copy "fake", saying in an interview with the news website of Rahahan F.C., his football team: "This story [the copy of my passport] is too badly fabricated that they even put my picture on the passport without a tie. However, it is obligatory to tie a necktie to take pictures for European passports," which is untrue.[15]
Arrest and conviction
On 30 December 2013, Zanjani was arrested by Iranian police for his alleged role in the "gold for gas" sale of Iranian oil that avoided international sanctions in schemes Turkey and Malaysia. He was accused of embezzling more than €2.7 billion,[16][17] involving, among others, the National Bank of Tajikistan.[18] Some days later, a spokesman from the National Bank of Tajikistan denied any cooperation between Zanjani and the bank and claimed all documents presented by Zanjani about their two-way communications were fake.[19] He was tried in an Islamic Revolutionary Court. On 6 March 2016, he was convicted and sentenced to death for embezzlement and "spreading corruption on earth".[20][2] In December 2016, the Supreme Court of Iran confirmed the sentence.[21]
However, his sentence has been stayed pending his return of the embezzled money,[22] after which he may receive a pardon.[23] Iran's Supreme Court indicated that his sentence would be commuted when his debts to the Iranian government were paid.[24] On 30 April 2024, Zanjani's sentence was commuted to 20 years' imprisonment after returning around $2.1 billion in assets from illegally selling oil.[25]
^Hamid Dabashi (10 March 2016). "Babak Zanjani and the collaboration of Iran". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 January 2017. The full exposure of such corruptions scandalizes not only the crook who engaged in such financial atrocities, but those who enabled him and are now using him as "the fall guy".
^Michael Theodoulou (11 January 2014). "Downfall of Iran's billionaire sanctions-buster". The National. Retrieved 1 January 2017. Scott Lucas, an Iran specialist at Birmingham University in England, suspects that Mr Zanjani will become the "fall guy" for corruption scandals involving powerful figures and institutions during the Ahmadinejad era. "More senior figures are likely to escape unscathed, provided Mr Zanjani pays the price," Mr Lucas said.
