Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 19
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
An investigation into the scandalous bribery allegations in the office of the Iranian Oil Minister is being carried out, Hedayatollah Khademi, member of the Iranian Parliament Commission on Energy, told the Iranian parliament's website, Trend reports.
Khademi added that, according to the allegations, bank accounts have been opened for the employees the office of the oil minister.
"Officials from the Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh’s office have asked from those appealing to them, individuals who are contracted with the Oil Ministry, founders of oil and gas companies, and others to pay a certain amount of money to the bank accounts of the employees," he said.
According to the Iranian MP, the employees would hand over the money paid to their accounts to the officials at the oil minister's office. There was even a POS terminal installed there for that.
Khademi assumed that the employees have been doing this either unknowingly or by being forced.
"According to an allegation, one of the officials who had a close relationship with the minister and who had made regular visits to a company located in Turkey, ended up having a heart attack and being hospitalized after hearing the news of security officers arriving at the office to question the staff," he said.
The Iranian MP has stated that the relevant authorities have intervened and are carefully investigating the matter.
Khademi said that he had no information on the time the bribery scandal took place, or on the amount of money taken from the employees.
