Iran’s Social Security Organization Reveals Corruption Cases Worth €19m

Iran’s Social Security Organization has disclosed information about several corruption cases related to petrochemical firms affiliated with it that occurred about 12 years ago. 

In an interview released on Sunday, the organization’s managing director Mirhashem Mousavi talked about the cases for the first time to the media, mentioning that one of the cases is worth $2.5 million, another is €2.5 million and a third is about 50 million UAE dirhams. 

He said that the cases are being pursued since 2010 and 2011 but no verdict has been issued. 

Mousavi added that five high-priced properties, valued at more than half of the total properties of the organization, have been given to others with a deed but the organization has not been able to get more than five percent of the price of one of the properties. 

The cases were related to the Social Security Investment Company (SSIC, also known by its Persian acronym SHASTA), one of Iran's major state-owned investment companies, and the investment arm of the Social Security Organization, which provides healthcare and pension benefits for a large population of Iranian middle and working-class members. 

The revelations came as a $170 million embezzlement case has left one of Iran’s natural gas producers in serious trouble. Mehr Petrochemicals produces the highest-grade polyethylene in the Middle East but it stands at the verge of bankruptcy, according to Eghtesad Online (Economy Online). The firm belongs to Persian Gulf Holding, a large Iranian quasi-governmental company that claims to be an independent entity, with 15 subsidiaries.