New reports of corruption in the "Penta Plus" project of the Bidboland Persian Gulf Gas Refinery have surfaced, once again bringing Mehdi Shafiei, the notorious broker of the Persian Gulf Holding, to the forefront as the pivotal figure of an opaque decision-making network in the petrochemical industry.
Suspicious Payments and Exclusive Contracts
According to obtained information, it is said that an amount of around three million dollars was paid to Shafiei by the Panahi company on the order of Neshanzadeh to obtain the license for this unit. Additionally, the contract for the construction and operation of Penta Plus has been awarded in the form of an exclusive agreement to the partnership of two companies, "Panah Sanat" and "Atieh Pardazan Sharif."
This contract was concluded during the management of Amin Nejad over Bidboland and the responsibility of Neshanzadeh in the holding's projects; positions that were later swapped among them. Subsequent managerial changes and the replacement of managers in Bidboland have also been interpreted by critics as a sign of the continued influence of this same managerial network.
