The death last year of Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani brought global attention to the Quds Force, the elite IRGC unit he headed. Our previous investigation of Soleimani’s business network reveals that he and his comrades were sly businessmen who used their power and connections to found private business ventures subsidized by the civilian government.
Here is a detailed overview of Resalat and Eqtesad Novin banks, the financial institutions behind one of Iran’s most secretive business networks.
Resalat Bank
Resalat Bank specializes in interest-free loans, or Qardh al-Hassan funds. Its charter allows it to create branches and conduct business abroad, and to accept representatives internationally. It continues to receive lucrative contracts involving bonyads and IRGC-affiliated entities.
The bank has strong ownership links to Mola al-Movahedin Charity (MMC). This charitable organization, or bonyad, forms the heart of the Quds Force’s domestic economic activities.
Resalat Bank Shareholders
Tehran Stock Exchange data shows that Resalat has two corporate shareholders: Pouyesh Salehin Investment Holding (PSIH) and the Haj Ali Akbar Sanati Bonyad, which has MMC trustee Ali Mostafavi among its board members. Other shareholders include PSIH executives and their families and the families of MMC executives.
2021 – Resalat Bank remains active, managing a healthy portfolio of assets totaling 24,643,746 million rials (nearly $100 million). It continues to receive lucrative contracts involving bonyads and IRGC-affiliated entities.
2019 – Aside from the Tasnim News report that names Hosseinzadeh and Vaziri, all other stories on this embezzlement case refrain from naming any co-conspirators.
2019 – Emaratsaz, the Tejarat bank employee, takes the fall. He is eventually sentenced to 25 years in prison.
2018 – Tejarat Bank reportedly also sued Mahan Air, Samen Credit Institute, and Basijian Qardh al-Hasan fund for involvement in the scheme. Mahan Air was the recipient of some of the cashier’s checks detailed above.
2018 – The indictment names Ezatollah Vaziri, then Resalat Bank CEO, and Mohammad Hossein Hosseinzadeh, then Resalat Bank VP, as co-conspirators in the case, Tasnim News reported at the time.
2018 – Iran tried former Bank Tejarat of Kerman branch manager Ali Akbar Emaratsaz in connection with a 6 trillion toman embezzlement case and money laundering.
October 18, 2016 – Resalat Salehin Fund of Tehran dissolved. Board members comprised a number of IRGC/Quds Force officials as well as MMC/Mahan Air executives.
June 11, 2015 – Resalat Salehin Fund of Mazandaran dissolved. Ezatolla Vaziri, tried for financial corruption, was among its board members.
2014–15 – Bank Tejarat of Kerman branch manager Ali Akbar Emaratsaz illicitly issues a total of 691 cashier’s checks to the Resalat Salehin Kerman fund, then “erases three zeros” from Tejarat’s records to decrease the total borrowed amount. Court documents later set the total damage at 6 trillion toman ($600 million).
2014–15 – Resalat Bank experiences cash flow problems.
2014–15 – Resalat Bank acquired some of its startup funds from money embezzled from another bank, Tejarat. The main actors in the scandal were Kerman-based individuals and Quds Force–owned companies, according to court documents from 2018.
May 31, 2015 – Resalat Salehin Fund of Kerman is dissolved. Ezatolla Vaziri, later tried for financial corruption, was among its board members.
February 15, 2012 – Resalat Bank is created, consolidating three existing Qardh-al-Hassan funds: Resalat Salehin Tehran, Resalat Salehin Kerman and Resalat Salehin Mazandaran
Eqtesad Novin Bank
Iran’s first private bank, Eqtesad Novin (EN), is among the country’s largest, with 1,087,543,247 million rials in assets last year, according to public records. Following the easing of Western sanctions on Iran in 2016, the bank was briefly in negotiations to set up a 25 million euro mutual fund with German banks. At the time, nonperforming loans comprised 16–17 percent of the bank’s assets, according to a 2016 investor handbook from Arqaam Capital, a Dutch consultancy.
The bank is a limited liability partnership (LLP) owned by Stratus Holding.
Stratus Holding and the Sadr Hasheminejads
The Sadr Hasheminejad family is an influential family who control Stratus Holding. This holding has several subsidiaries, including EN Bank, Iran Construction Investment Co., and Aluminum Pars Hanza. Stratus Holding has offices in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Turkey (Stratus International Contracting Insaat ve Taahhut Anonim Sirketi, aka “Stratus Turkey”), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, and Pakistan, and has carried out projects in these countries as well as in Yemen, Djibouti, Singapore, Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Libya, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mali, Algeria, and Benin.
Sister companies with Quds Force links
EN Bank is linked to the Quds Force via its sister company Iran Construction Investment Co. The company controls Kerman Province Development and Improvement Co., which owns shares in a company called Aryan Mahtab Gostar. Mola al Movahedin Charity (MMC) has a 52 percent stake in Aryan Mahtab Gostar, which produces 4.5 percent of Iran’s electricity.
EN Bank is also linked to the Quds Force via another sister company, Aluminum Pars Hanza. MMC trustee Mohammad Javad Fadaei Fathabadi and MMC subsidiary Kerman Development Organization are both connected to Aluminum Pars Hanza. At one time, Mohammad Sadr Hasheminejad and Fadaei Fathabadi both served on the board of the company. While Fadaei Fathabadi is no longer on the board, MMC is still involved with the company via Kerman Development Organization and Omran Alavi Mahan Co.
Source » tehranbureau