Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha

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Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha
مرجان شیخ الاسلامی آل آقا
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Kermanshah, Imperial State of Iran
NationalityIranian
CitizenshipIran, Canada[1]
Occupation(s)ex-journalist, political activist, embezzler,[2][1] businesswoman
Known forSepanir Company embezzlement,[3][4]
Petrochemical Commercial Company corruption,[5]
Embezzlement of $7.4 billion (€6.6 billion)[6][2]
Spouse(s)Mehdi Khalaji (div.)[7]
Majid Baghernejad

Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha (Persian: مرجان شیخ الاسلامی آل آقا )is a former journalist, political activist, businesswoman and fugitive embezzler.[8][9] She is married to Mehdi Khalaji, the Libitzky Family Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an advocate of economic sanctions against Iran.[8][10][11] Marjan Aleagha is known for embezzling $7.4[2] billion in one of her cases.[2][1]

Media activities[edit]

She started as a journalist in reformist newspapers in late 1990s,[12] including covering the parliament at Hambastegi newspaper. Later in mid 2000s she directed a news agency linked to Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran, which was headed by Hamid Baghaei, a Vice President and confidant to President Ahmadinejad.[12] Masih Alinejad wrote in her book: "Marjan Sheikholeslami, the head of the political department of Hambastegi newspaper agreed to take me under her wing."[13][14][15]

Political involvement[edit]

As a member of the main reformist party, Islamic Iran Participation Front, she ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat in Tehran in 1996 Iranian legislative election. In 2008, she switched sides and was endorsed by allies of the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the 2008 Iranian legislative election to no avail.

In 2014, she cofounded Idea Center for Arts and Culture LLC with her husband Mehdi Khalaji and published a web magazine, Ghalamro.[16] The company was dissolved in 2017.[17]

Corruption charges[edit]

In two separate cases, she is accused of embezzling public funds in Iran. In 2010, as the international sanctions against Iran intensified, she founded various companies in Iran and Turkey to help Iran bypass the sanctions and sell its petrochemical products.[18][19][20] In March 2019, Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha was formally accused of being involved in a giant embezzlement court case of a value of 6.6 billion EU of the assets of Iran National Petrochemical Company while attempting to bypass Iran sanctions.[2][21] Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha fled Iran in and took asylum in Canada.[1][22][3]

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Sheikholeslami is accused[23] of working closely with Reza Hamzehlou, the then CEO of Iran's Petrochemical Commercial Company[24] which was just privatised by Ahmadinejad's government, to embezzle €6.6b of petrochemical exports under the sanctions. The case is described by Shargh newspaper as the biggest corruption case in Iranian history.[25][26][27] She is charged with €7,065,529 in one case and $8,710,384 embezzlement in another by an ongoing trial in Tehran.

In another case, Sheikholeslami is accused of receiving funds from Sepanir Oil and Gas Energy Engineering Company, which is owned by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to import goods which she never delivered and escaped Iran to Canada.[3][28] The amount is not disclosed yet.[9][2][3]

Personal life[edit]

While being in a political and journalism and trading career in Iran, Sheikholeslami Aleagha changed her lifestyles drastically from wearing Chador, a conservative veil or Hijab type, to being unveiled while pictured abroad after fleeing from Iran. She also got divorced and remarried, latest with Mehdi Khalaji. In her current life she is a "helping hand to Iranian government in sanctions bypass' but also married to a right-wing political activist vehemently in favor of sanctions against Iran.[29] This contradiction has attracted a lot of attention in Persian language media, describing the couple as 'one makes sanctions and the other, bypasses them."[30][31][32]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Iran: Petrochemical corruption scandal grips the country | Corruption.Net". corruption.net. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Record corruption scandal puts spotlight on Iranians in Iran, US - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". www.al-monitor.com. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  3. ^ a b c d "Iranian charged in €6.6 billion case with disrupting Iran's economy by moving money for sanctions avoidance, immigrated to Canada | Duhaime's Anti-Money Laundering & Financial Crime News". Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  4. ^ "Canada turned to safe haven for embezzlers: Top judiciary official". IRNA English. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  5. ^ "Iranian Canadians Sign Petition against Two Fugitive Embezzlers". Iran Front Page. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  6. ^ "Iran Regime's Embezzlement Case Obscures True Criminals". NCRI. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  7. ^ "Iran: Petrochemical corruption scandal grips the country | Corruption.Net". corruption.net. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
  8. ^ a b "Iranian press review: Landmark corruption case shows extent of embezzlement".
  9. ^ a b "ICC: Canada Must Investigate Corrupt Officials and Embezzlers From Iran Investing in Canada". Iranian Canadian Congress. July 27, 2020. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  10. ^ "Iran's 'Resistance' Bloc Rises amid New U.S. Sanctions". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  11. ^ "Iran's Great Petrochemical Corruption Scandal, Part VI: The Partner Who Fled to Canada". iranwire.com. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  12. ^ a b "Iranian news agency joins WFP in fight against hunger". www.wfp.org. Archived from the original on 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  13. ^ Masih, Alinejad (2018). The Wind in My Hair. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316549073.
  14. ^ "متهمی به نام مرجان شیخ الاسلام ، پدیده ای عجیب در سیاست ایران". rajanews.com (in Persian). 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  15. ^ "قبیله کاسبان تحریم- اخبار رسانه ها تسنیم | Tasnim". خبرگزاری تسنیم | Tasnim (in Persian). Retrieved 2022-08-08.
  16. ^ "درباره قلمرو". قلمرو (in Persian). Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  17. ^ "Idea Center for Arts and Culture LLC". opencorporates.com. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  18. ^ "روزنامه رسمی جمهوری اسلامی ایران". www.rooznamehrasmi.ir. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  19. ^ "About - Deniz International Trade Co". 2016-07-26. Archived from the original on 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  20. ^ "روزنامه رسمی جمهوری اسلامی ایران". www.rooznamehrasmi.ir. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  21. ^ "متهم اصلی پرونده پتروشیمی: همه کارها برای کمک به نظام بود". 9 March 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  22. ^ "Canada turned to safe haven for embezzlers: Top judiciary official". IRNA English. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  23. ^ "کیفرخواست متهمان پرونده شرکت بازرگانی پتروشیمی". www.fardanews.com. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  24. ^ "Home". Petrochemical Commercial Company. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  25. ^ "Tehran Court Links Financial Corruption Case To Circumventing Sanctions". RFE/RL. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  26. ^ "رکورد بابک زنجانی شکسته شد". ایسنا (in Persian). 2019-03-09. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  27. ^ "Iran Regime's Embezzlement Case Obscures True Criminals". NCRI. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  28. ^ "Sepanir | Iran Watch". www.iranwatch.org. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  29. ^ "Iranian Canadians Sign Petition against Two Fugitive Embezzlers". Iran Front Page. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2021-09-18.
  30. ^ "Marjan Sheikholeslami Aleagha is at large". www.asriran.com. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  31. ^ "About Marjan Sheikholeslami and her involvement in the embezzlement". Ensaf News (in Persian). Retrieved 9 March 2019.
  32. ^ "واکنش‌ها به اختلاس مرجان شیخ الاسلامی آل آقا". fararu.com (in Persian). 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
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