About two years after the revelation of the ‘$80-million fraud’ involving a person named Mohammad Zolfaqari from Astan Quds foundation, new reports now indicate that the same individual has inflicted an additional $22 million in damages to the Razavi chain company affiliated with Astan Quds. This transpired while his corruption case remains unresolved within the regime’s judiciary.
This non-guaranteed contract was entered into during Alireza Pakpayman’s tenure as the director of the Razavi chain company, operating under the authority of the current president of the regime, Ebrahim Raisi. Pakpayman now holds the position of deputy minister of agriculture. Notably, the case, known as ‘tire corruption‘ according to regime media, involves another person who currently heads the Iranian business center in Armenia under the present government.
The ‘Ministry of Labor Holding,’ established with official permission from the regime’s Trade Development Organization, spans over 10,000 square meters in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, making it one of the city’s key commercial and industrial locations.
The saga began in 2018 when, under Alireza Pakpeyman’s management, the then CEO of ‘Razavi Supply Chain Management’—affiliated with Astan Quds—awarded a $80 million contract to Mohammed Zolfaqari for the import of 200,000 tires, at the government currency rate.
Zolfaqari, known for his sales fraud accusations of 8 trillion tomans in the Nima system, failed to fulfill $22 million of his obligations due to legal defects in the contract, notably the absence of a guarantor. As a result, Astan Quds Razavi suffered significant losses.
The premature release of Mohammad Zolfaqari from prison and his subsequent economic activities with the regime’s approval raised concerns even among some regime officials, including Abolfazl Abu Torabi. Torabi disclosed in an interview that Zolfaqari, post-prison release, engaged in a nearly $500 million deal with the National Oil Refining and Distribution Company for gasoline sales.
The $80 million contract with the Razavi chain company, as reported by Sharq daily, not only ‘lacks a guarantor’ but also exhibits ‘serious legal defects.’ Remarkably, the contract granted special privileges to Zolfaqari, with only two checks listed as guarantees—one issued by Zolfaqari himself and the other by ‘A.O.,’ the person likely instrumental in facilitating the deal.
Despite the tire import contract’s mention of a second check from Iran Currency Co., Ltd., no such check was ever issued. Evidently, the $80 million contract is unsecured, a fact Sharq highlighted. Additionally, the court case failed to return Zolfaqari’s check, and the main guarantor, ‘A.O.,’ remained undisclosed and protected throughout the legal process until recently.
Three years later, this case is still held up in the regime’s judiciary, with missing links and undisclosed aspects, suggesting deliberate delays in the proceedings to shield unnamed individuals from involvement.
‘A.O.,’ frequently mentioned in Sharq’s report, is Arman Olamai, previously linked to financial corruption in the Teachers Investment Fund. The representative of the prosecutor confirmed Olamai’s role in the ‘illegal payment of facilities’ to companies associated with Shahaboddin Ghandali, a key figure in the Capital Bank financial corruption case.
In 2021, Arman Olamai assumed the position of head of the commercial center of Iranians in Armenia, inaugurated in the presence of Hojatollah Abdol Maleki, Minister of Labor, Cooperation, and Social Welfare.
The tire import contract was signed two months into Ahmad Maravi’s presidency of Astan Quds Razavi and with the knowledge of Esmail Khatib, the current Minister of Intelligence.
Previously, Javad Nikbin, MP of Kashmar, asserted in parliament that the Quds Razavi chain company inked a contract with Mohammad Zolfaqari, who, lacking any history of tire imports and burdened by debts, lacked the capacity for trade.
