The Fortuna Oil Rig Scandal

One of the largest financial scandals involving the Iranian Offshore Engineering and Construction Company (IOEC) revolves around the case of the missing oil rig “Fortuna.” In 2012, IOEC signed a contract with Sepanta International, a company cooperating with Iran’s oil industry to bypass sanctions.

To maintain this collaboration, Sepanta established a company called Dean in the UK and entered into an $87 million contract with IOEC. The sum was paid in three installments to Dean’s account, yet none of these payments resulted in the rig being delivered to Iran.

The issues began when a separate agreement with a third-party supplier, GSP, to procure the rig was terminated, yet Dean continued receiving payments. Meanwhile, Ali Taheri-Motlaq, the then-CEO of IOEC, signed the rig delivery confirmation, despite it never arriving in Iran. This suggests the true aim of the contract was not to purchase the rig but to embezzle $87 million from state funds under the guise of circumventing sanctions.

The scandal was investigated in courts in both Iran and the UK. Ultimately, Ali Taheri-Motlaq and Reza Mostafavi Tabatabai, CEO of Dean, were convicted of embezzlement and financial corruption, receiving three-year prison sentences and heavy financial penalties.

To read the whole dossier of IOEC, download this file: