Babak Zanjani ( fa, بابک زنجانی, born 12 March 1974) is an Iranian billionaire and

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

. He was the managing director of the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

-based Sorinet Group, one of Iran's largest business conglomerates. In late 2013, he was arrested and accused of withholding $2.7 billion of government money owned by the Ministry of Petroleum, in his attempts to facilitate Iran's oil revenue hindered by the

sanctions against Iran There have been a number of sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia following its inva ...

. He was convicted of corruption, sentenced to death, and is currently awaiting execution. Several commentators have stated that Zanjani is perhaps a "

fall guy Fall guy is a colloquial phrase that refers to a person to whom blame is deliberately and falsely attributed in order to deflect blame from another party. Origin The origin of the term "fall guy" is unknown and contentious. Many sources place ...

" for corruption scandals in Iran.

Sorinet Group

Sorinet Group ( fa, گروه شرکت‌های سورینت) is an Iranian business conglomerate. The company is one of Iran's largest business conglomerates. Sorinet businesses include cosmetics, finance and banking, hospitality, commercial aviation, infrastructure, building material, information technology and international real estate development. It operates in countries including Iran, United Arab Emirates, Turkey,

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, Malaysia, China. He also owned Qeshm Airlines and Rah Ahan Sorinet F.C. in Iran. In 2013, Zanjani stated that his net worth was $13.5 billion.

EU sanctions against Iran

Zanjani was named in the restrictive measures against Iran in December 2012 by the EU council on the grounds of "assisting designated entities to violate the provisions of the EU regulation on Iran and is providing financial support to the government of Iran". Zanjani was claimed to be "a key facilitator for Iranian oil deals and transferring oil-related money". He denied the accusation, declining any ties with the Iranian government and calling the Europeans' decision "a mistake". The EU

describe Zanjani as "a key facilitator for Iranian oil deals" and transferring oil related money and accused the Malaysia-based First Islamic Bank of being used to channel Iranian oil-related payments. Zanjani said the complex nature of his companies' transactions, involving large sums, might have misled EU authorities. Zanjani's companies were involved in the Labuan—Iran oil smuggling on the eastern coast of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Labuan had been serving as a drop-off spot for Iranian crude.

Alleged dual nationality

In January 2013, an Iranian news website,

Baztab Baztab ( fa, بازتاب meaning ''reflection'') is an Iranian, Persian language, Tehran-based news website. The English service of this site has published since January 2007. Although Baztab is an anti-reformist website, it sometimes criticizes ...

, reported that Zanjani holds a

Danish passport Danish passports are issued to citizens of the Kingdom of Denmark to facilitate international travel. Besides serving as proof of Danish citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Danish consular officials abroad (or ...

in addition to his Iranian one, a claim which was later denied by Zanjani. He called the passport's copy "fake", saying in an interview with the news website of Rahahan F.C., his football team: "This story he copy of my passportis too badly fabricated that they even put my picture on the passport without a tie. However, it is obligatory to tie a necktie to take pictures for European passports," which is not true.

Arrest and conviction

On 30 December 2013, Zanjani was arrested by Iranian police for his alleged role in the "gold for gas" sale of Iranian oil that avoided international sanctions in schemes

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and Malaysia. He was accused of embezzling more than €2.7 billion, involving, among others, the

National Bank of Tajikistan The National Bank of Tajikistan (russian: Национальный банк Таджикистана; tg, Бонки миллии Тоҷикистон) is the central bank of Tajikistan. The Bank is engaged in developing policies to promote fina ...

. Some days later, a spokesman from the National Bank of Tajikistan denied any cooperation between Zanjani and the bank and claimed all documents presented by Zanjani about their two-way communications were fake. He was tried in an

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (also Revolutionary Tribunal, ''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) (Persian: دادگاه انقلاب اسلامی) is a special system of courts in the Islamic ...

. On 6 March 2016, he was convicted and sentenced to death for embezzlement and " spreading corruption on earth". In December 2016, the

Supreme Court of Iran The Supreme Court of Iran is the highest juridical authority in Iran, established to supervise the correct implementation of laws by courts of justice and consisting of the most prominent judges of the country. The head of the judiciary assigns cr ...

confirmed the sentence. However, his sentence has been stayed pending his return of the embezzled money, after which he may receive a pardon. Iran's Supreme Court indicated that his sentence will be commuted when his debts to the Iranian government are paid.

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