The sons of a former high-ranking Iranian judiciary official have been sentenced to a combined total of over 25 years in prison for their involvement in a financial corruption case.
Amir-Hossein Mosaddegh was sentenced to 17 years and 9 months in prison and fined 8.25 trillion rials (about $10,000) for illegal influence peddling and participation in bribery.
His brother, Mohammad-Sadegh Mosaddegh, received an eight-year prison sentence for abuse of office and involvement in eight counts of money laundering.
Their father Mohammad Mosaddegh Kahanmouei, the former first deputy of the Judiciary, resigned in March, several months after a Telegram channel revealed that his two sons were arrested for massive corruption and money laundering.
Apart from Mosaddegh’s sons, the case involves twenty-one other suspects.
The indictment revealed details of the case, including allegations related to the transfer of the "Shohaday-e Gheytarieh" sports complex to a prominent Tehran constructor.
The sons of the former first deputy allegedly held a 20 percent stake in the deal, equivalent to 1.4 trillion rials, approximately $1.75 million at today’s rates.
Another charge against the brothers involved exerting influence in the case of Mohammad Rostami Safa, a known bank debtor, resulting in their acquisition of 2 trillion rials (about $2.5 million).
The Rostami Safa Group, managed by Mohammad Rostami Safa, has a history of accusations, by the Judiciary itself, of receiving substantial loans since 2003 and failing to repay them.
It is not the first time a judiciary official has been caught up in a corruption scandal. In a similar case, another senior judiciary official, Akbar Tabari, was arrested in 2019 for leading a bribery network and personally accepting multiple bribes. He was sentenced to 31 years in prison.
However, Iran ranks 149 out of 180 countries in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, scoring 24 out of 100.
