The financial corruption case in Kerman's Governor's Office, which has apparently entered the judicial investigation phase with the official confirmation of the province's prosecutor, is now a clear example of the lack of transparency in the executive and judicial structures. While judicial officials only mention "one employee" as the accused, a series of simultaneous resignations, previous reports about the arrest of employees of the Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, and the public dissemination of the figure of five trillion tomans have raised serious questions about the real dimensions of this case and the role of senior managers in Kerman province..
On October 10, Mehdi Bakhshi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Kerman, officially announced that an employee of the Governor's Office is under investigation for charges of "embezzlement, bribery, and money laundering." However, informed sources have said that this case is being removed from the hands of the Economic Police of the Law Enforcement Force due to apparent interference intended to silence the case and is being handed over to the General Directorate of Intelligence of Kerman province.
The issue of influential officials' interference becomes meaningful when it is revealed that Mohammad Ali Talebi, the governor of Kerman, and Mehdi Bakhshi, the province's prosecutor, along with other judicial officials, insist that "the accusation is solely directed at one person" and no names of senior managers have been deliberately mentioned.
Also, this same powerful circle in the province pressured the Kerman Economic Security Police to issue a separate statement, which contrary to initial statements, declared that these are "major economic cases identified in the first six months of the year" and "have no connection to the Kerman Governor's Office."
However, the next wave of resignations in the Governor's Office rendered this effort meaningless. In those days, three senior managers of the Governor's Office, the governor, and the political deputy were detained for 48 hours, and Mohammad Sadegh Azizi, the director-general of the Governor's Office, who is still in detention, was forced to resign.
Simultaneous Resignations; Sign or Coincidence?
The resignation of Mohammad Sadegh Azizi, Vahdat Eidi, and Yaser Karbasi during the peak of the financial misconduct news is one of the sensitive points of this case. Especially since Azizi, known as the closest person to the governor and the only person who accompanied Talebi from Yazd to Kerman, continues to be detained as the main suspect in the case, indicating rumors of his main role in "transferring money under the guise of social responsibility" with the direct order of the Kerman governor..
The figure of five trillion tomans, with the history of large social responsibility budgets of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company, led to this amount being established in the public mind as "missing money." The CEO of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company, just a few days before the start of these controversies, had announced the approval of "10 trillion tomans social responsibility budget"; a figure that increases sensitivities..
Supervisory Structure; The Missing Link
While the Kerman prosecutor emphasizes "the confidentiality of preliminary investigations," reports indicate "prevention of Dadkhoda Salari, the inspector general of Kerman, from entering this case" due to direct support from the head of the judiciary and the prosecutor of the province's center for the governor. Additionally, financial cases at the provincial level, especially in areas related to large industries, have been caught in the hidden layers of power..
The Kerman Governor's Office case, with news censorship and national intelligence interference, even if it ultimately has only one accused, is indicative of a structural crisis in Iran's administrative system: lack of transparency, widespread confidentiality, judicial system support for governmental embezzlers, lack of accessible financial reports, and the overlap of political and economic power in this case also shows how the absence of independent supervisory mechanisms provides the ground for the formation of informal power networks.
Networks that in public narratives, from the governor to domain managers, have been the links of a major corruption, and this same circle not only has the ability to shape corruption within the industrial companies of Kerman but also a part of the judicial network, like the province's prosecutor, has taken on the responsibility of diverting and silencing cases.
A province that is one of the hubs of mines and industries in Iran has, as a result of these mafia-like corruption circles, yielded nothing but deprivation and poverty for its citizens for years, and economic corruption in the executive body of the province has become a common and recurring issue over different periods.
