Iran’s Judiciary Spokesman Not Optimistic about Fugitive Banker’s Extradition
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iranian Judiciary’s spokesman said he sees no ray of hope for the extradition of Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a former top Iranian banker who fled to Canada after committing a massive fraud.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Sunday, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said there has been no new development in the judicial case of Khavari.
“We are pursuing his extradition (from Canada) via the Interpol, but there is no glimmer of hope to get him back, at least from my viewpoint,” the spokesperson added.
However, Mohseni Ejei noted, some officials at the Interpol section of Iran’s Police are hopeful that Khavari will be returned to the country, who is facing charges of “economic corruption.”
Khavari, said to hold dual citizenship and own a home in Toronto, fled to Canada after a $2.6 billion financial fraud came to light in 2011.
The embezzlement case started in 2007 by Amir Mansour Arya Investment Company, and developed in 2010 after some Iranian major banks, including Bank Saderat and Bank Melli, granted loans to the company.
Although the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has placed Khavari on its Red Notice Wanted list, the efforts to extradite him to Iran have gone nowhere so far.