Iranian General Deplores Canadian Police’ Refusal to Arrest Fugitive Banker
TEHRAN – Iranian Police Commander Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari assailed Canada for declining to arrest a former top Iranian banker who has fled to that country after committing a massive fraud, saying Iran had notified the Canadian Police of the whereabouts of Mahmoud Reza Khavari.
In remarks at a televised interview on Saturday, Brigadier
General Ashtari said Iran determined the exact whereabouts of Khavari in Canada
two times and even informed the Canadian Police about the fugitive banker’s location,
but they refused to arrest him.
Iran has information on the whereabouts of many wanted
criminals in the foreign countries, while even the police forces of those
countries have failed to detect them, the Iranian commander noted.
The lack of cooperation from foreigners on arresting and
extraditing the convicts has political reasons in some cases, General Ashtari
noted.
The problem is lack of cooperation from the judicial and
police forces of the other countries, although the protocols defined by the
Interpol on the extradition of wanted figures are clear, he added.
Mahmoud Reza Khavari, a former top Iranian banker who fled
to Canada after committing a massive fraud, has been sentenced to 30 years in
prison.
Khavari, said to hold dual citizenship and own a home in
Toronto, fled to Canada after a $2.6 billion financial fraud came to light in
2011.
The embezzlement case started in 2007 by Amir Mansour Arya
Investment Company, and developed in 2010 after some Iranian major banks,
including Bank Saderat and Bank Melli, granted loans to the company.
Although Interpol has placed Khavari on its Red Notice
Wanted list, efforts to extradite him to Iran have gone nowhere so far.
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