Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani has been sentenced to death after a court found him guilty in a fraud case involving an oil fund, the state-run Iranian Students’ News Agency reported on Sunday, citing a judicial official.
The court found enough evidence to convict Zanjani and two other people, Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, a spokesman for Iran’s judiciary, said.
Iranian officials accused Zanjani, who previously worked as an informal dealer at the oil ministry, of embezzling the $2.7 billion. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in 2014 that Zanjani used the Tajikistan branch of his own bank, First Islamic Investment Bank, to funnel the money out of Iran.
Zanjani had been blacklisted by the U.S. and the European Union for helping Iran evade sanctions, according to the BBC.
World powers, including the U.S., lifted a host of sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program after a landmark accord with the Islamic Republic in July.
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