Ghasem Makarem Shirazi, former advisor to the Minister of Roads, was arrested overnight.
Ghasem Makarem Shirazi, advisor to Rostam Ghasemi, the former Minister of Roads and Urban Development, has been sentenced to four years and eleven months in prison, two years of disqualification from government services, and a two-year travel ban on charges of bribery and selling positions. He is closely related to the brother of Naser Makarem Shirazi, a Shia religious authority.
According to an ISNA report, Ghasem Makarem Shirazi, who was a former member of the Appointments Commission of the Ministry of Roads, had through his intermediary offered one of the then managers of the ministry to pay 25 billion tomans in exchange for retaining his position. This manager, in coordination with intelligence agencies, paid the requested amount, and at that time, Makarem Shirazi’s intermediary was arrested.
According to the report, Ghasem Makarem Shirazi was also arrested in the middle of the night in a park where he was supposed to receive the bribe money.