Iranian daily blasts Raisi administration’s handling of major fraud case

“During his recent trip to Khuzestan, Raisi said ‘I don’t want to hear bribery, corruption and unhealthy relations having penetrated a state institution’,” wrote the Jomhouri-e Eslami daily quoting the president.

“The biggest case of bribery, corruption and unhealthy relations is that of the Debsh Tea embezzlement and money-laundering scandal which, unfortunately, happened in this very administration,” the newspaper explained.

“Unfortunately, efforts are being made to shelve the issue and portray it as a fabricated corruption case,” the daily wrote.

“Generally speaking, the presence of such unhealthy practices in state institutions has disrupted clients’ jobs, promoted favoritism and turned rente-seeking into a common practice,” the newspaper added.

This comes as Parliament has already faced internecine criticism for its handling of the Debsh Tea fraud case, involving billions of dollars.

Earlier, an inquiry by the General Inspection Organization of Iran showed that a company named Debsh Tea received $3.37 billion to import machinery and tea but instead sold the currency on the free market at a much higher rate.

The fraud case is said to be the largest in the Iranian history.