IRANIAN authorities have carried out the execution of Mohammad Reza Ghaffari, the mastermind behind a vast investment fraud that left tens of thousands of investors defrauded, the country’s judiciary announced. Ghaffari, owner of Rezaayat Khodro Taravat Novin, was hanged after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence for “large-scale disruption of the country’s economic system” and network fraud, according to the judiciary’s Mizan Online portal.
The Times of Israel today reported that the scheme, which began in 2013 in northern Qazvin province, initially promised customers access to cars at below-market prices before expanding into real estate ventures and other investment plans.
Prosecutors accused Ghaffari and his associates of taking “vast sums from the public” and using funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier clients, a structure resembling a Ponzi scheme.
The judiciary estimates that the total sums involved would be equivalent to approximately $350 million at current exchange rates.
Only “around four percent” of clients reportedly received the cars they had purchased, while the rest were left without any compensation. A court found Ghaffari guilty of severely undermining the national economy through his operations.
The case drew widespread attention in Iran, involving more than 28,000 complainants and a total of 28 defendants.
The authorities said the execution underlines the judiciary’s determination to punish large-scale economic crimes and deter similar schemes that threaten public trust and financial stability.
Ghaffari’s network, spanning nearly a decade, illustrates the growing challenge of regulating private investment schemes and ensuring consumer protection, particularly in emerging markets where promises of high returns can rapidly escalate into nationwide scandals.
The judiciary has emphasised that the verdict and sentence were carried out in strict accordance with the law, signalling a zero-tolerance approach to economic disruption on a grand scale. - December 7, 2025
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