The Iranian regime’s Rouydad 24 website reported that Javad Sadatinejad, the former Minister of Agriculture in Ebrahim Raisi’s government, has been accused of crossing the boundaries of corruption during his 20-month tenure in the ministry. It is alleged that he was involved in a corruption scheme amounting to 11 trillion rials (approximately $18.7 million) in the import of livestock feed.
Previously, Sadatinejad’s name had been mentioned in connection with a $750 million corruption case related to the import of tea, known as “Debsh tea,” and many believed that this was the reason for his dismissal from the Ministry of Agriculture. However, new documents obtained by Rouydad 24 reveal his involvement in corruption related to the import of livestock feed.
According to the report, the former minister not only recommended a contract for the import of essential goods with an inexperienced company but also instructed them to sell the goods they didn’t purchase to the public.
Rouydad 24 stated that the General Inspection Organization of the country was the first entity to investigate this case.
The report from the inspection organization revealed that the Rural Cooperation Organization, affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture, signed a contract with a private company called Aryo Tajarate Soheil.
According to this contract, the company was granted a license to import 18.3 million tons of essential agricultural products, including livestock feed.
Surprisingly, the Rural Cooperation Organization itself has the authority to handle the import of essential goods and livestock feed.
Rouydad 24 added, “Aryo Tajarate Soheil received 4.24 trillion rials (approximately $7.31 million) for imports but only succeeded in importing 24,000 tons, approximately 5% of its commitments. In return for this shortfall, it transferred 49% of the company’s shares to the government.”
According to the inspection organization’s investigation, this company had no prior experience in importing livestock feed before entering into the contract with the Rural Cooperation Organization.
The report further stated that the Ministry of Agriculture’s violations did not end with signing a contract with an inexperienced company and its failure to fulfill the contract. In April 2022, despite knowing about the absence of livestock feed in the country’s customs and ports, the Ministry of Agriculture sold over 511,000 tons of livestock feed through fake orders and loading counterfeit shipments in the official market system, collecting 11.71 trillion rials (approximately $20 million) from the public for nonexistent goods.
Roudad 24, citing documents in its possession, announced that the case for investigating corruption in the import of livestock feed was initiated in July 2022 in the regime’s judiciary.
After one and a half years, the indictment of this case was prepared in January 2024 in Branch One of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, specializing in economic crimes.
Based on this, Sadatinejad is accused in this case of offenses such as “disruption of the country’s monetary or currency system through large-scale currency smuggling or counterfeiting of coins or banknotes,” “complicity in disrupting the country’s economic system, production system, and distribution of livestock products,” and “special privileges of the Ministry of Agriculture to Aryo Tajarate Soheil.”
In addition to the former minister of Ebrahim Raisi’s government, names of other individuals from the Revolutionary Guards are also prominent in this case.
On December 9, 2023, the regime’s Etemad Online published an infographic stating that embezzlers are competing with each other to deceive the people of Iran.
The media listed 14 embezzlements and large financial corruption cases from 1992 to 2024.
Hamzatollah Fallahatpisheh, a former representative of the regime’s parliament, said on December 16, 2023, that the total embezzlement in major corruption cases in the Iranian regime amounts to $57 billion.
