The Trusts Case: From Regulatory Weakness to Ambiguity
Saeed Aganji, editor of Iran Gate News Agency, wrote about new dimensions of the Trusts corruption case.
In the Trusts corruption case, according to the oil minister’s claim in a private meeting with several members of parliament, Behzad Shamsi, the financial director of the National Iranian Oil Company, is the primary accused debtor in the specific trust case.
Considering the new dimensions revealed about the Trusts case and the announcement of multi-billion dollar figures from the specific trust case, and the serious involvement of security and regulatory bodies in this matter, Oil Minister Paknejad attended a meeting with several members of parliament and provided explanations.
Based on the narratives from this meeting, Paknejad implicitly confirmed the occurrence of widespread misconduct in this case within the oil company and identified serious weaknesses in the financial and regulatory structure of the National Iranian Oil Company under the oil company’s CEO as one of the main factors leading to this crisis.
It is said that in this meeting, the oil minister, referring to the performance of Behzad Shamsi, the financial director of the National Iranian Oil Company, announced that the company’s financial and regulatory system failed to timely identify the misconduct attributed to the former international affairs director of the oil company, a matter which ultimately prevented the stoppage of oil shipments and increased the volume of losses.
In another part of these remarks, there was even concern expressed about the possibility of collusion between the former international affairs director and Behzad Shamsi.
However, perhaps the most important part of the matter is the claim raised about the audited financial reports of the National Iranian Oil Company. According to what was stated in this meeting, for the first time in the history of the National Iranian Oil Company, the audited financial reports were met with a disapproval opinion, an unprecedented event that has raised serious questions about the performance of the financial structure and internal controls of this organization.
Is Behzad Shamsi merely a victim of a weak system and management that failed to identify and stop the misconduct of the former international director, or, as discussed in the meeting, was there a specific financial or managerial connection between these two individuals?
In any scenario presented, the direct responsibility for the lack of oversight and management that led to multi-billion dollar losses falls on the oil minister, Paknejad.