Iran's parliament has approved a plan to investigate reports about the disappearance of 15 trillion rials – around $60 million – in Iran’s Chamber of Commerce.
The parliament gave the go-ahead in its Tuesday session with 190 votes in favor of the move that will probe the transactions of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (Iran Chamber) during the past 10 years. The Chamber is a quasi-state entity.
On Saturday, the conservative Farhikhtegan newspaper alleged that a review of documents related to the payments of 40 companies to the Chamber in the last four years indicates that a huge amount of money is not accounted for in the institution’s ledger.
In one case, the Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company was supposed to pay the chamber about 900 billion rials but data show that only 30 billion– about one-thirtieth – was actually paid.
The chairman of the Chamber Masoud Khansari said on Tuesday that the reports are not based on accurate numbers and the Judiciary should investigate where such figures came from, describing the report as a blow to the government.
Earlier in April, the general director of a major government pension fund said that around $400 million was lost either through mismanagement or embezzlement.
Iran ranked 150 out of 180 countries in the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), one step lower than the previous year, which weakens its struggling economy.