{"id":220654,"date":"2020-06-18T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T10:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=220654"},"modified":"2023-01-24T11:36:39","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T10:36:39","slug":"regime-affiliated-factory-owners-embezzle-1-4-billion-as-workers-remain-unpaid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/inside-source-reports\/regime-affiliated-factory-owners-embezzle-1-4-billion-as-workers-remain-unpaid\/","title":{"rendered":"Regime-Affiliated Factory Owners Embezzle $1.4 Billion as Workers Remain Unpaid"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Regime-Affiliated
Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugar Company in Khuzestan went on strike to protest the non-payment of their monthly salaries and corruption in the company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Embezzlement of $1.4 billion by the members of the Iranian regime who own the Haft Tappeh sugarcane factory in Khuzestan while workers’ salaries remain unpaid.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Haft Tappeh<\/a> Sugarcane Company <\/span>is <\/span>located 14 km from Shush city and has factories as well as 24,000 hectares of good<\/span>s<\/span> land on the banks of the Dez River in Khuzestan Province<\/span>, south-western Iran<\/span>. The company was handed over to Omid <\/span>Asadbeigi<\/span> and Mehrdad Rostami, 28 and 31<\/span> year<\/span>s <\/span>old<\/span> respectively<\/span>, at a 2015 auction with a down payment of only 6 billion tomans. The price and manner of this transfer and the qualifications of these two young men were in a state of ambiguity from the very beginning and indicated the beginning of a major case of government corruption and plundering.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Haft-Tappeh-sugarcane-company-in-Khuzestan-Shush\"
Haft Tappeh sugarcane company in Khuzestan, Shush<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the transfer of the company, in recent years, the name of Haft Tappeh<\/a> Sugarcane has always been associated with protests and strikes by its workers.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According<\/span><\/a> to reports from inside the country, all workers in the “Agriculture, Factory, Livestock, Mechanical, Administrative and Infrastructure” sections of the factory have been on strike since June 15, 2020. “On June 16, 2020, about 800 workers from different parts of the company again protested in the industrial area of the company due to non-payment of their salaries and claims and uncertainty about their job status.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers in strike – file photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another report by the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers Union on the cause of the workers’ protest and strike also mentioned the conditional release of the Haft Tappeh factory’s CEO. Omid <\/span>Asadbeigi<\/span>, CEO of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane, was <\/span>detained <\/span>earlier this month on a so-called court <\/span>order, but<\/span> was released on parole shortly afterward to pay off his alleged debts<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shush, southwest #Iran<\/a>
\nWorkers of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company protesting and demanding their delayed paychecks. pic.twitter.com\/3z9r0UJlm7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 18, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n