Apr 15 2020

The Supreme Audit Court of Iran reported that $4.8 billion went missing from government funds in 2018, indicating massive government corruption in the regime. Iran’s 2018 Budget Report, read today in the regime’s parliament, showed that from the more than $31.4 billion allocated for imported goods, no goods had been imported for more than $4.8 billion of the funds.

Addressing Parliament, Adel Azar, the Head of the Supreme Audit Court, said that a separate “confidential” report for Iran’s National Development Fund and Oil Fund would be given to the Majlis Speaker.

Iran’s 2018 Budget report, which was to be made public in mid-January, reviews 3,700 executive bodies in Iran. Azari said the reason for the delay was “COVID-19 related conditions”.

The Report also cited cases of corruption by government officials, as well as individuals who, despite receiving funds at government currency rates (4,200 tomans to 1USD), did not import any goods or basic goods.

The report clearly shows that a large number of regime elites embezzled government funds in 2018.

For example, of the 37 individuals and entities that received more than $100 million, 32 did not import any goods. Also, from the 48 individuals who received between $50-$100 million in 2018, 31 did not import any goods.

The report also investigated the salaries and benefits received by the regime’s executives. The 2018 Budget Report showed that the net salary received by 241 executives was more than the allowable limit. One unidentified executive was reported to have received 53 million tomans a month, considered very high in Iran.

Workers receive around 1.8 million tomans a month in Iran.

According to the Civil Service Management Law and a 2016 decision by the Salary Council, the maximum salary of managers and government employees is 23 million and 583 thousand tomans per month.

The Budget Report calculated the total additional income of these managers to be around 11.3 billion tomans.

The executives were employed in companies affiliated with the National Retirement Fund, the Food and Drug Administration, medical sciences universities, subsidiaries of the Ministry of Oil, scientific and research companies, the Special Economic Zone Organization, Maskan Bank (Housing Bank) and the Forensic Medicine Organization.

The Budget Report also cited the unsuccessful transfer of government-owned companies to Iran’s private sector.

It said that about 77% of the transfers only resulted in the “transfer of the ownership of the company from the government to the private sector” and did not amount to actual transfers.

Several companies have gone bankrupt after being transferred to the public sector. This has led to hundreds of protests by workers who complain that after the transfer, they did not receive regular wages or that parts of the company were shut down while laborers were laid off.

The head of the Court of Audit claimed that the legal cases of about 15 embezzlers had been sent to the prosecutor’s office and would be seen as a “priority”.

The report proves that despite claims by the regime’s top officials that they lack the funds to give Iranians financial aid during the COVID-19 epidemic, the regime is not lacking in funds.

Instead of giving Iranians financial aid, enabling them to stay at home during the coronavirus crisis which has led to the death of at least 28,200 people, the regime’s President Hassan Rouhani has allowed businesses to start work, risking the lives of millions of Iranians.

Although the Budget Report sheds light on the corruption of regime elites, the real corruption in Iran is institutionalized and legal.

The regime’s Supreme Leader owns dozens of tax-exempt bonyads which are not overseen by any other government body. Ali Khamenei’s assets are worth an estimated $200 billion, according to the US Embassy in Iraq.

The money is used to line the ayatollah’s pocket and fund the regime’s proxies all over the world.

Source » irannewswire