New documents found in Iran fraud case

Iranian Prosecutor General Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei says new documents detailing the biggest embezzlement case in the country's banking history have been retrieved. Mohseni-Ejei said on Monday that the documents were found in the capital Tehran and the north of the country. He noted that the discovery of the documents will prolong the court proceedings as they need to be studied carefully. An equivalent of $2.8 billion has been withdrawn from the country's banking system and deposited in a personal account. An individual opened several front companies and used loopholes in the law regarding the domestic Letters of Credit. Seven state-owned and private Iranian banks are said to be involved in the fraud case, in which documents were also forged in efforts to secure loans and purchase state-owned companies. In September, 2011, Mohseni-Ejei initially announced that 22 people had been detained in connection with the case.