The billionaire businessman at the heart of Iran's US$2.8 billion letter of credit (L/C) based fraud has been executed.

Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, also known as Amir Mansour Aria, was reportedly hanged at Evin prison, just outside the capital, Tehran, according to Iranian media reports.

Political connections

One report said the execution came after Iran's Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.

Politically connected Khosravi's holding company acquired former state interests including the Khuzestan steel company, real estate, some 35 other companies and a football club.

Forged L/Cs

The value of the holding company quadrupled in three years, making Khosravi at least appear to be Iran's richest man.

In 2011, investigators found that forged L/Cs and other documentation had been used to obtain billions of US dollars' worth of loans from Iran's leading state banks to fund the acquisitions.

Ghost transactions

In the largest fraud case since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution, around US$2.8 billion was filtered out of the Iranian banking system via fraudulent L/Cs that were cashed by banks lacking the proper documents.

The L/Cs were allegedly issued with no collateral and no goods were involved (DC World News, 24 July 2012).

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