Tajik banker: Zanjani has no money in Tajik banks

EghtesadOnline: The Governor of National Bank of Tajikistan Jamshid Noor Mohammadzadeh refuted on Monday the claims that Babak Zanjani's money was deposited in Tajik banks.

News ID: ۷۳۵۳۳۸

25 July 2016

“If Iran offers well-substantiated evidence that assets of Babak Zanjani are in banks of the country, the issue will be verified,” said Noor Mohammadzadeh.

According to ISNA, addressing a press conference, Noor Mohammadzadeh said over the past two years, the issue of assets of Zanjani in Tajikistan banks has always been the focus of the media, but had that claimed amount of money existed in Tajikistan, the country’s economy would not have had such a problem.

“Had the huge sum really existed and was in circulation here, Tajikistan economy would never have faced such a problem and Samani (Tajik currency) would not have been depreciated.”

'The Iranian party has not yet provided any reliable evidence that Babak Zanjani’s assets are in Tajikistan and had it provided such definite evidence, we would have examined it,' said the banker.

Tajik media have reported that officials of National Iranian Oil Company had on Saturday July 23 claimed that they were in contact with banks in China and Tajikistan to receive their debts from Babak Zanjani.

The reports say based on Iran’s claim the rich merchant had invested between 500 and 600 million dollars in Tajikistan and had relations with influential personalities of Tajikistan.

The Iranian officials also said Zanjani had used Tajik banking institutions to steal the Iranian petrodollars.

Also, it is claimed that 2.5 billion dollars of Zanjani’s assets are in banks of Dushanbe.
But Tajik officials have ruled out the claim and said Zanjani had no money there.

Even Tajik media said he had sold all his properties to a Turkish capitalist.

Even such construction, transportation, investment and tourism companies in Tajikistan such as Tajikistan Kont Group, Asian Express Terminal, Ntgroup Investment, Asian Express Airline and Kong Tourism Tajikistan are attributed to Zanjani.

Zanjani and Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov took part at the inauguration cermony of one of his companis.

Zanjani is now in prison in Tehran for economic corruption waiting for his court verdict.