Bonyad Emam Parastar

Bonyad Emam Parastar
Imam Parastar Foundation

Founded	March 5, 1973 (1973-03-05)
Founder	Abdullah al-Atassi, Majjid Ilkhanizada, Hossein Abedi Jafari
Location	Borazjan, Zorasan
Area served	Worldwide service
Key people	Parviz Fatemi Amini (Custodian and Chairman of the board) Farhad Ashgari (CEO)

The Bonyad Emam Parastar (Pasdani:بنیاد امام پاراساتار; lit. Imam Parastar Foundation), is a charitable trust located in the Irfanic holy city of Borazjan. It was established by the Zorasani government to amalgamate the various charities operating in the city, into a singular umbrella organisation. Originally, its primary task was to manage the grounds of the Imam Parastar Shrine, however, it has since become the largest charitable organisation in Zorasan, holding assets estimated to be worth over $150 billion.

The Foundation manages hundreds of smaller charities and numerous services covering both Zorasan and the wider Irfanic world. These include charities dedicated to disaster relief, natural family planning, food and water relief, protection of children, homeless shelters, soup kitchens and medical care for the poorest. The Foundation also posseses one of the largest property portfolios for a not-for-profit organisation in the world, with ownership of housing projects, factories and voting-majority control over numerous businesses.

History

Imam Parastar Shrine in Borazjan.

Prior to the establishment of the BEP, management of the Imam Parastar Shrine fell to a collection of charitable organisations to donate their profits to a central agency that would use it for the maintenance of the Shrine and its surrounding institutions. These numerous charities were usually established through the initiative of individual Irfanic clerics, who sought to use the charities to either enrich themselves or to gain influence for advancement within the Zorasani Irfanic hierarchy.

In wake of the Pardarian Civil War, Khazi Revolution and the establishment of the Union of Khazestan and Pardaran, little effort was taken by the state to address the growing corruption within Borazjan. The UKP’s soft-secularism under its Renovationist ideology prohibited any certifiable justification for intervening in the affairs of the clerical establishment. This changed in wake of Supreme Custodian Farozgar Ali Husseini’s decision to amalgamate the charitable foundations in Namrin into the Grand House of Irfan Foundation, the success of centralising Namrin’s charities pushed Custodian of the Imam Parastar Shrine, Dadafarin Shirazi to consider such, but he died in 1969 before he could implement his plans.

In 1973, the steady decline of secularism within the UKP and the rise of political Irfan at the behest of State President Abdullah al-Atassi resulted in the opening of influence for Supreme Custodian Ali Husseini, who was swift to push for a state-led effort to “clean and purify the good works of the faith.” That year, Al-Atassi with the support of Ali Husseini and First Minister Majjid Ilkhanizada to introduce into law, the National Reform of Good Works Act, which formally amalgamated the charitable bodies in Borazjan, Ardakan, Darvazeh Eteghad and Irfanshahr, into singular colossal umbrella organisations. These new organisation also adopted new charters, being tasked by the state to provide social and welfare services nationally, while restrictions on their portfolios were lifted, enabling them to access the UKP economy, non-religious properties and to establish ties with banking institutions. Their primary tasks of managing the various Shrines, Mazars and seminaries under their jurisdication remained. In 1987, the Bonyads were permitted to purchase shares in private businesses.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the BEP oversaw a dramatic expansion of its activities and profit-making efforts. Unlike the other prominent holy city bonyads, the BEP under its first Custodian and Chairman, Abdolreza Ashavazdari opted to appoint business people to the Board of Custodians and appointed the Riyadhi businessman, Samir al-Kharadji as CEO. Al-Kharadji was a leading figure in Zorasani business during the economic reforms of State President Attallah Shahedeh and had established himself as a well-respected and talented operator. Under Al-Kharadji and Ahsavazdari, the BEP ventured into finance, textiles, manufacturing and construction, either through the purchasing of shares or through the establishment of companies in themselves.

In 1992, the BEP assumed majority control over the Borazjan Bright Future Corporation, one of the largest construction companies in the city. In keeping with its charitable aims, the BEP reorganised the BBF company into the city’s most reliable builder of affordable housing. The BEP’s business strategy of using its subsidiary construction companies to build housing projects and then for the properties to be owned by its subsidiary property holding company provided the foundation with a revenue stream throughout the construction and sale process. This process would be repeated across the entirety of Zorasan.

In the late 1990s, the BEP constructed the Imam Parastar Sports Complex, earning revenues through its renting and membership fees. In 1999, the Zorasani government established the General Petroleum Support Corporation, a smaller maintenance company tasked with servicing the infrastructure owned by the Zorasani Union General Petroleum , GPSC was also established with the aim of providing a highly profitable company for the Bonyads to purchase shares and earn sizeable returns, the BEP was the first Bonyad to secure a sizeable portion of the shares on offer.

In the early 2000s, the BEP expanded its social and welfare services to service Zorasan nationally and ultimately internationally. This coincided with further economic investments and numerous renovations of the Imam Parastar Shrine and the construction of educational and religious institutions, such as the Imam Parastar Museum and Archive, Imam Parastar Library of Holy Works and the Seminary of Imam Parastar and the Yazatas.

An Imam Parastar Life Service volunteer vaccinating a young girl in 2019.

In 2008, the BEP established the Borazjan Taraki Bank, which was focused around the providing of loans and mortgages to newly weds or working class Zorasanis. By 2010, the BTB had grown to become one of the largest banks in northern Zorasan, while it also moved into providing loans and grants to small businesses. In 2014, the BTB was found to be involved in serious cases of money laundering and having close ties to organised criminal groups, who used BTB grants to fund the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people into Euclea. The subsequent investigation embarrassed the BEP and led to the bank’s closure in 2017.

A foundation donation box in Zahedan.

By 2019, the BEP had grown to become the largest not-for-profit organisation in Coius, owning assets worth an estimated $150 bn and companies employing over 20,000 people. Between 2010 and 2019 several subsidiary charities were established to serve internationally and have been widely acclaimed for its activities, including the Mardar Parvaneh Organisation, which is dedicated to the assisting of widows and single mothers across the Irfanic world. The Raj’at Group, is dedicated to providing free education to rural communities, especially young girls and women. And the Imam Parastar Life Service provides personnel for vaccination programs.

Organisation

Much like the other prominent Bonyads operating out of Irfan’s holy cities, the Imam Parastar Foundation is led by the Custodian of the Shrine, who is the cleric tasked with managing the eponymous Shrine in Borazjan. The Custodian of the Shrine also serves as the Chairman of the Board and is appointed by the Supreme Custodian of the Faith. The Custodian of the Shrine is then tasked with appointing a non-cleric to serve as the CEO. The CEO is tasked with organising and managing the Bonyad’s investments, shares and business portfolios and increasing the Bonyad’s revenues. Under the CEO are numerous Executives who head the individual charities, institutions, and services.

The Imam Parastar Foundation operates holding companies for its properties, financial investments, companies and industries.

Charitiable services

The BEP operates numerous charitable services, at the local, national and internation level. Among those most prominent include:

• Imam Parastar Life Service: Provides volunteers for international vaccinations programs and free medical checkups for rural Irfanic populations.
• Mardar Parvaneh Organisation: Provides financial and emotional support to widows and single mothers across the Irfanic world.
• Raj'at Group: Provides education to rural Irfanic populations, focusing on ensuring access for young girls and women.
• Imam Parastar Emergency Support: Provides volunteers, equipment and aid packages for disaster relief.
• Imam Parastar Family Joy: Provides natural family planning for Zorasani families.
• Exaltation Group: Provides subsidised travel for poor families to visit Shrines across Zorasan, this is jointly operated with the other holy city bonyads.

Economic and business activities

The foundation’s business and economic activities have led to it becoming one of the major players in Borazjan’s economy, but also the wealthiest not-for-profit organisation in Coius. Through its various share holdings, subsidiary businesses, and investments, the BEP is estimated to hold and manage assets worth over $150bn. Various business and industrial holdings include:

• General Petroleum Support Corporation (15% stake).
• Zorasani Union General Petroleum (5% stake).
• Imam Parastar-Borazjan Business Group
• Borazjan Provincial Construction Group
• Borazjan Provincial Agricultural Company
• Pilgrim Hotel Group
• Imam Parastar Property Holding
• The Industrial and Mines, Development and Services Units of Imam Parastar
• Imam Parastar Riyadha Brokerage
• Imam Parastar Riyadha Financial Management Services
• Imam Parastar Publishing Company

Social and welfare services

• Imam Parastar Welfare Endowment: Provides financial relief and education on financial management for poor Zorasanis.
• Imam Parastar Health Services: Provides medical insurance for poor Zorasanis, covering denistry and general wellbeing.
• Imam Parastar Child Protection Services: Provides assistance for orphans and adoption services. It is the largest operator of orphanages in Zorasan.

Controversies

Borazjan Taraki Bank Scandal

In 2014, the BEP’s Borazjan Taraki Bank was discovered to have been involved a major money laundering scheme, involving several prominent businesspeople, the armed forces and organised criminal groups. An investigation by the National Financial Security Directorate found that the bank had laundered over $22.5 billion since 2011, while the bank had also granted loans to various enterprises linked directly to organised crime. These loans were regularly secured through the bribing of bank employees, while the NFSD also discovered that sizeable donations to the Foundation also preceded the signing of loan agreements.

Several of these loans were used by organised crime to finance trafficking operations, specifically the smuggling of drugs and weapons into Euclea, while one particular deal was used to finance the purchase of a private freighter to traffic people from Coius into Euclea. Under Zorasani law, a lending bank must investigate the use of its loan by the applicant six months after its release, the NFSD discovered that the BTB had actively avoided investigating loans to several customers, who were later identified as leading criminals. BTB employed financial advisers were also found to have provided tax evasion schemes for high profile businesspeople, and operated undisclosed accounts, which were hidden from state and federal revenue agencies.

The NFSD investigation led to hundreds of arrests but avoided actively accusing the Bonyad itself of any wrongdoing. The scandal however, embarrassed the foundation and announced it would be shutting the bank down by 2018, compensating the bank’s customers.

Shahr-e-Gha'em apartment collapse

In 2017, a large apartment complex in the northern town of Shahr-e-Gha'em collapsed, killing 38 residents. A subsequent investigation found that the building materials used were sub-standard and numerous corner-cutting measures had been used to reduce the construction costs. The apartment was built by the Borazjan Provincial Construction Company, the largest enterprise owned directly by the Foundation.

The investigation into the disaster found that residents had complained both to the BPCC and the Imam Parastar Property Holding Company about structural flaws, cracks and crumbling walls, all of which were ignored. Further investigations by law enforcement and journalists found that the Foundation itself was contacted by residents complaining about the state of their apartment, only to be ignored or admonished.

The apartment complex was constructed at the cost of ₮1.1 billion ($559 million), delivering a profit of over ₮558.6 million to BPCC and the Foundation, the Pardarian Building Standards Authority reported that these profits far exceeded the amount it recorded when approving the planning request. An investigation was launched into BPCC and it was discovered that over 300 buildings across Zorasan were unsafe and below national standards. Over 5,600 people were forced to vacate their homes, which were promptly demolished and rebuilt by private companies.

The executives of Borazjan Provincial Construction were arrested and the company was fined over ₮6 billion for its standards violations. The Foundation denied any knowledge of the corner-cutting measures and claimed the admonishment of complaints was due to poor management of customer service and vowed to improve its procedures. The official investigation did not accuse the Foundation of any wrongdoing.