Mahmoud Reza Khavari ( fa, محمودرضا خاوری; born May 26, 1952) is a former Iranian banker, businessman, and fugitive

embezzler Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

who was involved in the

2011 Iranian embezzlement scandal The 3,000 billion Iranian toman, toman embezzlement scandal in Iran (also 2,800 billion embezzlement; approximately US$943.5 million) was a Corruption in Iran, corruption scandal involving the use of forged documents to obtain credit from at least ...

. In 2005, he became a

Canadian citizen Canadian nationality law details the conditions in which a person is a national of Canada. With few exceptions, almost all individuals born in the country are automatically citizens at birth. Foreign nationals may naturalize after living in Ca ...

. He is a fugitive wanted by the judicial authorities of

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, and as of October 2016, Khavari was wanted by

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

. He was the chairman of

Bank Melli Iran Bank Melli Iran (BMI; fa, بانک ملی ایران, lit=National Bank of Iran, ''Bânk-e Melli-ye Irân'') is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It is considered as the largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with ...

until September 2011 and chairman of

Bank Sepah Bank Sepah ( fa, بانک سپه, ''Bānke Sepah''), the first Iranian bank, was established in 1925 (corresponding to 1304 in the Iranian Calendar). Its first branch, in Tehran, opened that year. The bank also has branches in Frankfurt, Paris an ...

’s board of directors from December 2003 until March 2005.

Early life and education

Mahmoud Reza Khavari was born in the city of Khorramabad in western Iran. He obtained a bachelor of law degree from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

and a master's degree from Shahid Beheshti University. Mahmoud Khavari has two sons named Ardavan Khavari and Khashayar Khavari. Ardavan Khavari is also known as Ardy Khavari. Khashayar Khavari also is known as Khash Khavari. Khavari also has one daughter named Parandis Khavari.

Career

After graduation Khavari was hired by the

Bank of Industry and Mine Bank of Industry and Mine ( fa, بانک صنعت و معدن, ''Bank Sana't-e ve Ma'dæn'') is an Iranian government owned specialized bank located in Tehran, Iran. It endeavours to increase economic growth through the development of industry and ...

(Sanat-o-Madan) as the head of its complaints department. He was then selected to the board of directors of Sepah Bank in

Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islami ...

's government and became the head of

Sepah Bank Bank Sepah ( fa, بانک سپه, ''Bānke Sepah''), the first banking and Insurance in Iran, Iranian bank, was established in 1925 (corresponding to 1304 in the Iranian Calendar). Its first branch, in Tehran, opened that year. The bank also has b ...

during Khatami's presidency. In 2010, he was appointed by

Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

's government as the chairman of the board and managing director of

, the largest bank in Iran. During his inauguration,

Shamseddin Hosseini Sayyid Shamseddin Hosseini (born 1967) is an Iranian politician, who served as the minister of economic affairs and finance from 2008 to 2013. Early life and education Hosseini was born in Isfahan, Iran, in 1967. He holds a PhD in economics from ...

, minister of economic affairs and finance in

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

's government, described Khavari as a "wise and pious man" and told the reporters that the highest level of scrutiny was employed in his appointment. Khavari had not obtained a PhD but has often referred to himself as Dr. Khavari in official

communications.

2011 Iranian embezzlement scandal

In 2011, Khavari resigned from his position at Bank Melli amid allegations of being involved in the $2.6 billion Iranian embezzlement scandal. The scandal involved using forged documents to fraudulently buy privatized state assets that included major state-owned companies; Bank Melli, which Khavari led as its chairman of the board and managing director, was accused of facilitating the fraudulent payments. Khavari shortly after flew to the United Kingdom in order to attend a meeting at Lloyds Bank and announced his resignation via a fax to Iranian officials. In his resignation letter, Khavari implicated another bank as the source of the fraud and claimed that he was resigning in order "to respect public opinion," according to '' Bloomberg''. At the end of September 2011, he fled to Canada, where he has held

dual-citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on t ...

since 2005. Toronto property records under Khavari’s name date to 2001, when he took out a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

for a $615,000 property on Elmwood Ave in

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

. At one time, Khavari owned a Toronto-based company called Soaring Properties. In an attempt to protect his assets from being seized, Khavari invested in Toronto real estate by loaning money to his sons, Khashayar and Ardavan. He also signed his $3 million house in Bridle Path, Toronto over to his daughter, Parandis Khavari, and transferred his other two houses to Mrs. Khavari. Despite numerous requests from Iranian police, Canadian authorities did not extradite Khavari. He may face the death penalty if convicted by the judicial system of Iran. On October 31, 2011, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler called for an investigation on how Khavari acquired his Canadian citizenship. In 2016, Bloomberg reported that Khavari and his sons have been active in the Toronto real estate market even after the scandal, and from 2012 to 2016, the family has purchased at least $12.1 million worth of properties under various names and legal entities. Additionally, they are also responsible for roughly $11 million from 10 different mortgages. Many of the companies and institutions that Khavari has been associated with, such as

and

Bank Melli Bank Melli Iran (BMI; fa, بانک ملی ایران, lit=National Bank of Iran, ''Bânk-e Melli-ye Irân'') is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It is considered as the largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with ...

have been sanctioned by the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

and the international community since 2007. The Security Council blacklisted Bank Sepah under Resolution 1747 and placed restrictions on Bank Melli under Resolution 1803. According to security expert Avi Jorisch, Khavari is in violation of the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations for having worked and provided financial services on behalf of a designated Canadian entity. Khavari is also in violation of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act, along with Part II.1 of the Criminal Code (Section 83.05). Furthermore, under Section 83.05, Canadian authorities have the right to freeze Khavari’s assets. However, as of 2016, Khavari has not been subjected to any asset freeze or investigation by the Canadian authorities.

Whereabouts

In February 2014, the head of the Interpol Office of the Iranian Police said "a few days ago, the Canadian Interpol Office claimed in a phone contact that he has escaped to a

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

country but that they couldn't verify the escape yet, and this is the latest piece of information provided by the

Canadian Police Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast ...

to us". He dismissed the report on his escape from Canada. In March 2015, the same official announced that Khavari’s hideout had been discovered and Canadian authorities were referring his case to the Canadian judiciary. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported that Canada has chosen not to extradite him to Iran, since the two countries do not have a bilateral extradition agreement in place.

Published works

* ''The Book of Banking Law Consisting of Legal and Legitimate Analysis of Banking Operations and Transactions'' (book) published by the Banking Training Center (Iran). * "Committed Crimes on Aircraft and Hijacking" (essay) * "Press Crimes" (article) * ''Investigation into the Cause of Suspension of Punishment in Iran and EU Countries Laws'' (whitepaper)

References