Page 37 - IRANRptOct21

Tehran rejects money laundering conviction of Iranian central bank in Bahrain
leave office to be replaced by the hardline Raisi administration.
Due to his moderate policies and education in the US, it is unlikely Komijani that will hold on to the role of governor past the inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi as president.
Komijani took over as acting governor after the removal of Abdolnasser Hemmati as governor following Hemmati's decision to take on Raisi in the election.
A conviction of money laundering secured in a Bahraini court against the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has been rejected by Iran’s foreign ministry, Rudaw reported on August 2.
The court on July 29 hit the CBI and several other Iranian banks with fines for money laundering of Bahraini dinar (BHD) 1mn ($2.7mn) each. The ruling was recorded as the single largest economic ruling ever made by a Bahraini court. Bahrain has historical links to Iran with a significant proportion of the country’s population Shi’ite Muslim.
As part of the ruling, Bahrain’s Future Bank and six of its officials were also convicted, with Future Bank fined and the officials handed sentences of five to 10 years in jail.
The court also confiscated approximately $1.3bn in laundered funds from the multiple parties implicated in the ruling.
The Bahraini public prosecutor said the CBI instructed Future Bank to complete transactions via an “unapproved transfer system,” Bahraini state media reported.
The unapproved money transfer system was likely the traditional Hawala money transfer system, which uses intermediaries with money in their accounts to transfer sums on other people’s behalf.
Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, said: “Such cases and baseless claims and accusations against the Central Bank of Iran, Saderat Bank, Bank Melli and some managers of these banks, are mainly driven by political ends and are legally void.”
He said Iran was not informed of the court case, except via media reports in Bahraini and international media.
“Apparently, in these cases, the Bahraini court is solely executing the orders and decisions of Bahrain’s political and security apparatus. These cases also fail to meet judicial standards on fair investigation and trial and the Iranian parties were deprived of their basic rights. The judicial proceedings have also been nontransparent and faulty,” Khatibzadeh added.
8.1.1 Liquidity / assets
Iran’s liquidity expands to IRR18.82 quadrillion in Persian year ending March 2019
The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has reported on July 8 rial liquidity grew 23.1% to reach IRR18.82 quadrillion (around $447bn) in the previous Persian calendar year (to March 20).
Liquidity continues to grow due to the devaluation of the rial against a basket of other currencies. With prices continuing to creep upwards, the pace of growth is likely to be higher than the CBI’s official statistics.
The share of M2 money stood at in March at IRR2.85bn (more than $67.6bn)
37 IRAN Country Report October 2021 www.intellinews.com