The telecommunications industry is controlled by the privileged who became sons-in-law.
Wherever transparency and free competition give way to monopoly and favoritism, corruption is born there. The field of information technology and telecommunications is one of those sectors that, in the structure of today’s Islamic Republic, has become one of the areas prone to corruption. Saeed Aghanjani, an investigative journalist in the field of corruption, has this time uncovered a case and a network of corruption in this large market. Aghanjani has named individuals who are familiar and indeed mafia-like figures to the people in the telecommunications industry. Meqdad Shariatzadeh is one of the key figures in the telecommunications corruption case. He is the privileged son-in-law of Ali Asgari, the head of the Tax Affairs Organization during Ahmadinejad’s era. He has gained extensive influence in the telecommunications and technology sector over the past years by relying on a network of favoritism and connections.
His close connection with Abolhassan Firouzabadi, the former secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyberspace and a main supporter of filtering, has led to his name being mentioned as one of the main players in the VPN sales mafia in Iran.
Shariatzadeh, relying on security connections and extensive favoritism, has played a significant role in the buying and selling of telecommunications equipment for major operators, including Hamrah Aval, Irancell, and the Infrastructure Communications Company.
His family holds U.S. citizenship, and it is said that they have also taken advantage of this position in their overseas interactions and business activities.
Among these, Borna Rad Technology Development Company is recognized as one of the entities associated with him and his family members, which has been involved in various projects of selling telecommunications equipment and services.
Additionally, by registering shell companies and cultural institutions under the name Borna Rad inside and outside the country, efforts have been made to circumvent sanctions and transfer financial resources.
According to available information, Shariatzadeh and his network of collaborators have received hundreds of millions of dollars in favoritism through the importation of unusable equipment and servers and fictitious projects. It is said that this circle has dominated part of the financial resources in the telecommunications sector for years and has so far refused to account for their debts and financial performance due to the support of certain security and judicial institutions.