The billionaire businessman who was the mastermind behind Iran's biggest fraud case was hanged Saturday in Tehran.
Authorities say Mahafarid Amir Khosravi was put to death at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
Khosravi was found guilty of having used forged documents to obtain credit at Iran's top financial institutions in the $2.6 billion scam. He bought numerous assets, including a steel company.
At least 20 other people were arrested in connection with the scheme. Most are facing lengthy prison sentences, but at least three have received death sentences.
One of the suspects in the case fled to Canada. Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a former chief of a major Iranian bank, is on the Islamic Republic's most wanted list.
The trials raised questions about corruption at senior levels in Iran's tightly controlled economy during the administration of its former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign conducted by his opponents.
Authorities say Mahafarid Amir Khosravi was put to death at Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.
Khosravi was found guilty of having used forged documents to obtain credit at Iran's top financial institutions in the $2.6 billion scam. He bought numerous assets, including a steel company.
At least 20 other people were arrested in connection with the scheme. Most are facing lengthy prison sentences, but at least three have received death sentences.
One of the suspects in the case fled to Canada. Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a former chief of a major Iranian bank, is on the Islamic Republic's most wanted list.
The trials raised questions about corruption at senior levels in Iran's tightly controlled economy during the administration of its former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who dismissed the allegations as a smear campaign conducted by his opponents.
