Farda (Ahmadinejad's site): "Some of Rafsanjani's campaign supporters announce bankruptcy"

Iran Press News: Translation by Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi

According to a report in Ahmadinejad's own site, FARDA (named as such in order to confuse people with Radio Farda which is the Persian Broadcast of Radio Free Europe) several campaign supporters of Rafsanjani's presidential campaign, whose campaign finance loans for advertisement, etc. have not been reimbursed, are claiming bankruptcy. Some of these financiers who paid out thousands of dollars are planning to lodge complaints in court against Rafsanjani's campaign authorities. The plaintiffs are mainly financiers from the greater provinces and have not as of yet been able to collect on monies owed to them. They are each now facing serious financial troubles. READ MORE

Several days after the elections, in Tehran, a large number of creditors from the Rafsanjani campaign gathered in front of the campaign headquarters to protest, demanding that they be reimbursed. The majority of these creditors were either workers or contractors who had been gathered to work for the campaign in installing publicity posters among other services.

One of the financiers who lost his money in this deal said: "Unfortunately during the campaign, based on the orders of Rafsanjani's campaign I printed up in excess of $16,000 worth of printed material which I have yet to be paid for. They keep telling me, today, tomorrow or they hand me off to talk to yet another individual in their entourage in Tehran. I have written out checks that have now been returned for lack of funds and I truly fear that any day now, I will be arrested and taken to prison, for writing bad checks and bankruptcy."

There are many more, like this man in provinces all around Iran who invested and are being stonewalled as well as driven to bankruptcy. Some unconfirmed news indicates that Rafsanjani's debts have climbed to the $2,200,000 mark. Rafsanjani who left the campaign issues in the hands of his friends and relatives (including members of the Party of Experts and the Party of Temperance) started up large campaign branches that cost a lot to establish. One of the reasons for the refusal to reimburse the creditors is that many of Rafsanjani's own influential supporters, financiers and guarantors backed out of their hefty campaign promises after Rafsanjani lost the elections.