Zarrab holds most of Zanjani's money, Iran says

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-born Turkish businessman who was arrested in Miami on March 21, holds the vast majority of Iran's jailed billionaire tycoon Babak Zanjani's fortune, according to documents held by Iran, Iranian MP Amir Abbas Soltani has stated.

Speaking in parliament, Soltani, who is a member of the corruption committee formed in Iranian parliament to examine the case of Zanjani, said "Tehran should seize every possible opportunity to bring Zarrab to Iran."

Zanjani was last month sentenced to death in Iran for corruption after a trial in which he was accused of fraudulently pocketing $2.8 billion.

Zarrab was Zanjani's collaborator and partner, said Soltani, marking the first time the business ties between Zarrab and Zanjani were mentioned in Iranian parliament.

"Babak Zanjani and Reza Zarrab were never apart from each other. Zarrab is the key figure in Zanjani's case. For this reason, in order for the Zanjani case to be solved we need to have Zarrab," said Soltani, adding that the money and property Zarrab allegedly has is "money that the Iranian state needs to retrieve."

"Some of the interest centers behind closed curtains did the best they can in order to prevent us from reaching Zarrab. This situation made this case very complicated. It is estimated that Zanjani has wealth of over $5 billion. A very small amount of that is in Iran and a very significant amount of it is abroad," he said.

Soltani alleged that Zanjani has other partners who are unknown to the authorities and a large amount of money is with them.

Zarrab was a key figure in a large 2013 graft probe in Turkey that also involved four cabinet ministers but the case was dropped and Zarrab was released after 70 days in jail. 

He...