Iran Court sentenced Iranian billionaire businessman, Babak Zanjani with death penalty. The said business tycoon is convicted of corruption over the billion oil revenue fraudulent accusations. His sentenced was announced on Sunday by the justice official.
Babak Zanjani, 42 years old, along with two other defendants convicted to corruption, which is a capital offense and was ordered to pay a fine equal to the embezzled funds from state-run National Iranian Oil Company, stated by judiciary spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the Guardian reported. The convicted billionaire had been on a long trial for his prominent roles in aiding the government evade oil sanctions.
Zanjani was arrested on December 2013, on which he was accused of arranging billions of dollars of oil deals through a network of companies of his during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, according to BBC News. Since the year 2010, his stretching companies from Turkey to Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates have been used to sell millions of barrels of Iranian oil for the government.
While his fortune worth of $13.5bn, he also said he has debts of a similar scale. Zakjani, who was among the wealthiest in Iran, was also one of the Iranians blacklisted by the US and European sanctions, Yahoo News reported. Before he was arrested, Zanjani had argued that international sanctions were preventing him from handing over $1.2bn still owed to the government. However, on his recent trial, prosecutors said he still owed the government more than $2.7bn in oil revenue.
Working for years as a business man, Zarjani appeared in photos with some high-ranking officials and often shows off his wealth in public, such as private jets and luxury cars. Zanjani was convicted of "corruption on earth", the most serious offence in Iran's criminal code.
Wealthy figures have been executed after being found guilty of similar charges, such as Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi, who was executed by hanging in May 2014 for embezzling billions of dollars.
