The former owner of Iranian carrier Qeshm Airlines (QB, Tehran Mehrabad), Babak Zanjani, has lost an appeal in a Tehran court to reduce his sentence after being found guilty on charges of corruption. The Iranian businessman was given the death penalty in March 2016.
Zanjani was arrested in December 2013, following the election of President Hassan Rouhani, who vowed to tackle corruption. The billionaire was found guilty of misappropriation of public funds, fraud against Iran's Ministry of Petroleum and money laundering. The Iranian government claims that Zanjani owes more than EUR2 billion from transactions related to oil exports.
Zanjani’s airline was confiscated by the Iranian government in January 2015 as part of reparations owed to Tehran. Qeshm Airlines is now jointly controlled by the Ministry of Petroleum and private companies.
