“18 people have been arrested in connection to vehicle import fraud and the abuse of the official rate of the currency,” said Mohseni-Ejei told a weekly press conference, Tasnim reported.

According to media outlets, vehicle imports have long been seen as monopolized by well-connected, mafia-style corporations, which have benefited from the rial devaluation and enjoyed government privileges.

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“Documents have been found that show a number of serious violations have been made” in the cellphone market, he said during a press conference.

According to a list published recently by the Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, certain companies which had received foreign currency at the official rate to import cellphones sold their goods at a high price by taking advantage of the value of dollar and other currencies at the black market.

The official rate for dollar is 4200 tomans.

Mohseni Ejei said the Judiciary chief has ordered the Tehran prosecutor to immediately appoint special investigators to deal with those who have disrupted the foreign currency and cellphone markets and also those companies which used foreign currencies at official rate to import luxurious automobiles.

The Telecommunication Ministry announced last month that it would take strong action to control cellphone prices and crack down on opportunists.

“People are not defenseless in cellphone market and the government support people not to be victim of opportunists who rip people off,” Azari Jahromi said at the time.

As the Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar in the unofficial market many opportunists took unfair advantage of the chaotic conditions and overcharged people for electronic devices, such as cellphones.

The Judiciary spokesman also said the person, who is known as the “king of gold coin”, had been arrested some five years ago but was released upon a request by the central bank.

Recently, police said the “king of gold coin”, named Hamid Mazlomin, has been detained with gold coins weighing 2.5 tons.

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“Accusations are security-related and he is under detention,” Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei said in a press conference.

He refrained to give more details.

Abbas Edalat, a British-Iranian citizen and a professor of computer sciences and mathematics at Imperial College London, was arrested on April 15.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Edalat traveled to Iran from his home in London at an unknown date to attend an academic workshop, according to family friends.

An informed source told the Fars news agency on Friday that members of a spying team linked to Britain have been apprehended.

“Recently members of a network affiliated to Britain, who sought to launch espionage operations in Iran have been detained,” the source told Fars.

He added, “They had contacts with some main members of the group which led to the 2009 unrests and other anti-Iran moves.”

Abbas Edalat was also among those arrested.

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