The Return of the Man Always in the Shadow of the Economy

The return of the man always in the shadow of the economy

According to Iran Gate, in Mehr month of 1388, Hamid Pourmohammadi was appointed as the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iran by the decree of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At that time, Pourmohammadi was known for titles such as the main architect of the government’s principled banking ideas and the man in the shadow of the Central Bank.

On Saturday, 14th of Mordad, 1403, Masoud Pezeshkian, the Vice President, appointed Seyyed Hamid Pourmohammadi as the head of the Organization for Budget and Planning. Masoud Pezeshkian, the Vice President of the fourteenth government, appointed Hamid Pourmohammadi as the head of the Organization for Budget and Planning of the country.

Education and executive background of Hamid Pourmohammadi

Hamid Pourmohammadi was born in 1346 and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Tehran. He began his first activity in 1368 as a legal expert in the Deputy of Ministry of Jihad-e Sazandegi Affairs of Nomads. Throughout his years of activity, he held positions such as Deputy of Planning and Administrative and Financial Affairs of the Governor of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, CEO of Shahed Investment Company, Foundation of Martyrs of the Revolution, Deputy of Banking, Insurance, and State Companies Affairs of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, and has registered these positions in his managerial record.

The most important responsibility of him can be considered as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Iran during Mahmoud Bahmani’s presidency and the Senior Advisor to the Central Bank in 2008 during Tahmasb Mazaheri’s term. He has also been the Deputy for Banking Affairs of Insurance and State Companies under the Ministry of Economy and Finance since 2004 during the terms of Seyed Safdar Hosseini, Davood Danesh Ja’fari, and Shamseddin Hosseini.

Hamid Pourmohammadi, the principal architect of the government’s conservative banking ideas.

Perhaps the 1980s can be considered the peak of Pourmohammadi’s career. He was appointed as the Deputy for Banking Affairs of Insurance and State Companies at the Ministry of Economy and Finance from 2004 to May 2008. In the first government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, after Ja’fari resigned as the Minister of Economy and Finance, and the three-month interim period of Hossein Samsami began at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he was removed from his position. However, following this move, Tahmasb Mazaheri, the Governor of the Central Bank, immediately appointed Seyed Hamid Pourmohammadi as his Senior Advisor in this bank.

In October 2009, Pourmohammadi was appointed as the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Iran by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At that time, Pourmohammadi was known for titles such as the main architect of the government’s conservative banking ideas and a man in the shadow of the Central Bank, as some experts believed he played the most essential role in managing the country’s monetary network.

Hamid Pourmohammadi strongly opposed the controversial plan to merge state-owned banks.

One of Pourmohammadi’s controversial actions was his resistance against the plan to merge banks, which was proposed during Samareh Samareh’s interim leadership. Although his opposition led to his dismissal from the Ministry of Economy, after Samareh’s failure to be introduced to the parliament for the position of Minister of Economy, Pourmohammadi was invited back to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by the order of the President and the appointment of the new Minister of Economy, Shamseddin Hosseini.

He was also one of the critics of the allocation of foreign currency at the rate of 4200 tomans. A few months before the removal of the 4200-toman currency rate and the implementation of the so-called economic surgery program, he had announced that by continuing the policy of the 4200-toman currency rate, the government would buy essential goods from the NIMA system to secure foreign currency, leading to printing money and imposing inflation on the people.

The story of the embezzlement case of 3 trillion Hamid Pourmohammadi

In early Aban 1390, during a legal case known as the 3 trillion embezzlement case, Hamid Pourmohammadi was detained for a while but was released on 28 Azar of the same year on a bail of 5 billion rials. The financial corruption case of 3 trillion tomans was related to individual charges against a person named Mah Afarid Amir-Khosravi, the owner of the Amir Mansour Aria group, who reportedly managed to embezzle 3 trillion tomans or 2800 billion tomans through opening documentary credits in Iran’s banking networks.

Mr. Pourmohammadi’s name regarding the 3 trillion tomans embezzlement case first surfaced in Shahrivar 1390, when he was accused by Ahmad Tavakoli of lying about his educational qualifications and weaknesses in supervising banks. Tavakoli also brought up the then-president’s involvement, stating that when incompetent and unworthy individuals are appointed with the support of the President’s office, the result is as such. He mentioned that when unqualified individuals are in positions of power and individuals with issues are supported by the President’s office, and a person like Ahmadinejad agrees to these actions, they naturally corrupt the system.

The arrest of Hamid Pourmohammadi provoked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s protest to the extent that he openly criticized his arrest and said, ‘Why are you taking revenge on the people? Arrest and prosecute those who have given bribes, committed violations, and had influential support. Why did you arrest the deputy governor of the Central Bank?’

Entekhab website in June 2014 criticized the continued presence of Hamid Pourmohammadi in the Strategic Deputy of the Presidency, but upon reviewing the documents, they realized their mistake. After removing the news from the front page, the website officially apologized to Hamid Pourmohammadi. The news had stated that based on reports from the country’s supervisory and security agencies and other relevant important centers, Seyyed Hamid Pourmohammadi was innocent in the 3-billion-dollar banking corruption case, and in some sections of the reports, his role in combating embezzlement was even mentioned.

Hamid Pourmohammadi is a manager who manages from prison.

In December 2011, despite the arrest of the deputy governor of the Central Bank a few months earlier and the promise by Bahmani to appoint a replacement, Hamid Pourmohammadi’s name was still being introduced as the deputy governor on the Central Bank’s website. At that time, Fars News Agency criticized Mahmoud Bahmani, the governor of the Central Bank, for not introducing a replacement. It was reported that Hamid Pourmohammadi, the acting deputy at the Central Bank, was in detention as one of the suspects in a major embezzlement case and was supposed to be replaced in the near future according to Mahmoud Bahmani’s announcement. However, no replacement had been chosen for Pourmohammadi yet, and apparently the acting deputy of the Central Bank was managing the bank from prison.

Pourmohammadi and the Central Bank’s presidency faced rumors that were denied.

In the middle of dealing with his charges in December 2012, Pourmohammadi was appointed as the deputy for strategic planning by the then Vice President for Strategic Planning and Supervision, and received a letter of commendation. After the start of President Hassan Rouhani’s government, Nobakht, the Vice President for Planning, retained Pourmohammadi and assigned him a few other important positions.

In 2021, when Abdolnaser Hemati resigned as the head of the Central Bank with the aim of running in the thirteenth presidential election, rumors spread that Pourmohammadi was appointed as the new head of the Central Bank. However, this rumor was denied by his office at the Planning Organization shortly after.