The judge's order for the arrest and extradition of the foreign currency seller in the Debash tea case

According to Mehr News Agency, the 19th hearing of the Debash tea case in the first branch of the Islamic Revolution Court, which deals with the crimes of large and major disruptors in the economic system, was chaired by Judge Pasandideh, court advisors, the representative of the prosecutor, the defendants, their lawyers, the defendants of the case, representatives of organizations Custodian and supervisor, representatives of plaintiff banks, central bank and customs were held in the evening.

At the beginning of the court session, Judge Pasandideh said: In the previous court sessions, the accusations of the managers and employees of the banks, the employees of the Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture and the Organization of Industry, Mining and Trade were clarified. The defendants and their lawyers also defended themselves. Due to the fact that during the hearing, several uncertainties were created for the court regarding the main subject of the case, today the statements of the first-tier defendant regarding the main subject of the accusations, documents, reasons and issues raised in the indictment will be heard.

He added: “The court has doubts and questions about the first-tier defendant's performance, the currency transfers and Rial facilities he received, and some of these questions have been communicated to the defendant and his lawyers in writing.” In this round of proceedings, the court asks a number of questions from the first-tier defendant to listen to the defendant's answer.

In the continuation of the court session, the accused in the first row of the Chai Debash case appeared on the stand with the order of the judge.

Judge Pasandideh asked the accused in the first row of the case: according to the contents of the indictment issued for the foreign currency transfers received from the plaintiff banks amounting to 2 billion 726 million 249 thousand 405 euros, no goods have entered the country, what is the reason for the non-entry of the goods ? What are your measures for the entry of goods subject to these currency transfers? Are the goods subject to these remittances able to enter the country or not? What are your documents in this regard?

The accused in the first row said: We have registered orders and purchases have been made, the currency of which has been completely delivered to the seller, and we have receipts for receiving these funds from the seller. The receipt is in my office. The seller has no problem in fulfilling his obligation to transport and send these goods. Since March 20, 1401, when all the customs operations of Debash Group were stopped, and after that, due to the fact that I was also arrested on November 30, 1402, this operation was completely stopped.
The seller has paid a facility for financing, which is paid in Iranian rials for purchasing and registering orders, and has participated with us in importing.

He added: “When we import a product into the country, an order is placed for it and the currency is purchased, and 100% of these funds are paid in cash to the beneficiary in foreign countries.” All these funds have been received by the beneficiary and introduced by the representative. All the goods for which the foreign seller has received money can be transported and they will enter the country in time and the obligation will be settled, but with my arrest, the completion of all these issues has been suspended.

The judge stated: The seller has an obligation to deliver the goods subject to the order registration and remittance against the currency he received, which he must act as soon as possible. Is there an obstacle in receiving customs services to fulfill the seller's obligation?

The accused in the first row answered: Yes, the seller's concern is that he says that I will transport these goods, but when you are not at work and the factory is not working, how can I be sure that this facility that I gave you for your participation is open to the public. becomes

Judge Pasandideh said: You have received currency from the banks for importing goods. In which part of your transactions and registration of orders and requests is it mentioned that you have a foreign partner and these remittances are collaborative.

The accused in the first row stated: Our partnership with the seller is to import the goods, produce them and bring them to the market. When I receive my money, I will pay the seller. This is what this person wants now.

Judge Pasandideh further said: Your answers should correspond to the answer to the question. The fact that the seller does not ship the goods has nothing to do with your customs restriction. When you placed the order, did you indicate that the remittances were cooperative? When you wanted to receive currency, did you say that this is a cooperative currency? that you have currently tied the settlement of foreign exchange obligations to the satisfaction of the foreign seller.

Judge Pasandideh said: As a party to the transaction, i.e., the buyer, you have given rials of foreign exchange resources to the operating banks, and the operating banks have secured the currency of the foreign seller as promised, that is, your commitment to support the country's banking system and currency system against the foreign seller 100 The percentage is done, so why is the foreign party's commitment not being done to you?

The accused in the first row said: All these goods can be transported, but for this I need infrastructure to do it, which I have presented to the court in writing in the bill. Allow me to video contact the foreign seller.

Judge Pasandideh said: This matter can be done.

The judge asked the defendant: More than 3 billion euros of remittances have been issued to you, and Riyals have been deposited for these remittances. The origin of these remittances is one of the uncertainties that the court has faced and informed you in writing. Explain the source of the riyals you paid for the currency transfers.

The accused in the first row stated: Based on the written notification of the court, we prepared and sent a bill in this regard. Some of them have been through exports, for example, we have exported handwoven carpets and bought and sold tea in international salons, and I have no debt to the government regarding the exports that have been made.

Judge Pasandideh said: If you had income from rials and foreign exchange, submit to the court the documents of all these exports that are accepted and approved by the law.

He added: One of the accusations that the court explained to you is the illegal sale of foreign currency to the buyers of foreign exchange resources that you sold to 105 natural and legal persons, which you stated in response to the origin of these foreign currency resources that these foreign currency resources are the result of exports. But the indictment states that these sources of currency that you sold were the same source of currency remittances.

In order to clear the ambiguity, the court, in addition to hearing your defenses in the statement of charges, has also sent a notice in writing to receive a written response. Submit to the court the documents proving that these sources of currency are provided from the place of export.

The accused in the first row said: I did not say that it was from export.

The judge stated: In the first answer you gave to the court, you said that the currency was from export, and this is also stated in the indictment.

The defendant stated: The facilities we received from Cup of Joe were in Iranian Rials through third party accounts.

The judge said: 105 natural and legal persons who deposited Rials in your account should have bought the currency from the beneficiary, but they bought the currency from a person who is related to you. This person is one of the missing links of your foreign exchange operation who is abroad and the prosecutor's office is following up on this matter through the Interpol police, and the court requests the Interpol police to take into account the correspondence sent by the investigation and the Tehran prosecutor's office regarding the arrest and extradition. This person should speed up the operation so that the accused will appear in the court sessions.

Judge Pasandideh stated: In the financial statements prepared by your companies and submitted to the banks for receiving facilities, there was a total of 318 thousand billion tomans for the sale of tea, but according to experts, this figure was not correct and only 12 thousand billion tomans. confirmed; Submit to the court the documents showing the sale of 318 thousand billion tomans worth of tea by the companies of your group to third parties.

The accused in the first row said: 318 thousand billion tomans was not our final sale, but the algebraic sum of the turnover of the companies' accounts. These figures are about the production and sale of tea by several companies.

Judge Pasandideh said to the defendant: If you have any objections to the expert's statements, submit your documents to the court. The court follows a transparent path and wants every decision it issues to be without any ambiguity.

The judge stated: According to the indictment issued, about 316 thousand billion tomans is a collection of facilities that you received from the banking system. Where have you used this received facility? How much is the balance of the principal and sub-funds of this facility? And the settled amount was provided and deposited from where?

The accused in the first row said: With all these facilities, purchases were made for the company and it was according to the approvals and exactly according to the documents and the contract that was concluded between the Debash company and the bank and it was used in the same chapter; And settlements have been made from the company's sales and sources. If there is a suspicion that the previous facility has been settled from the new facility, this has not happened at all.

Judge Pasandideh said: “Today, the court asked questions from the first-tier accused, which are directly related to the accusations mentioned in the indictment.”

Addressing the first-tier defendant and his lawyers, he said: “Regarding all the questions that have been raised, an oral explanation has been provided, please give your written answer to the court as well.”

The judge stated: “The repeated emphasis of the court is that the foreign currency remittances that are the subject of the case should be released, and the court is ready to remove all the obstacles that you have announced.” I emphasize again that this issue is important for the court, and as we approach the final days of the trial, the importance of this issue doubles, and despite the fact that we announced this issue several times and the defendant's lawyers presented bills to the court, but the bill and the description of the issue cannot lead to results. The fact that you state that the foreign seller gives the possibility of risk and says that with what hope should I send the goods and that I participate in the origin of the rials of these remittances, these explanations are not an answer to the court's request at this stage. The court is very persistent about clearing the obligation from these currency transfers, because it is very effective in its decision.

He continued: The focus of your charges, based on which the indictment was issued, is currency transfers. If these currency remittances clear the obligation and you fulfill your obligation or import the goods or return the currency, many cases of indictment related to this issue will be resolved.

At the end, Judge Pasandideh said: It is necessary for the representatives of the plaintiff banks, defendants and their lawyers to attend the court hearings. The presence of customs representatives, Food and Drug Organization, National Standard Organization, and Central Bank representative is necessary for the meetings, because during the proceedings, there are questions that need to be answered.