Iran executes gold market's Sultan of Coins

TEHRAN:  Iran executed a trader on Wednesday dubbed the "Sultan of Coins" for his wholesale trafficking in gold to exploit a surge in demand from savers spooked by this year''s currency crisis.

Vahid Mazloomin and accomplice Mohammad Esmail Ghasemi had been convicted of "corruption on earth" -- Iran''s most serious capital offence -- by "forming and running a network for disrupting the economy", the judiciary''s news agency Mizan online reported.

Police said Mazloomin had "amassed around two tonnes of gold coins" by the time of his arrest on July 2. His network''s transactions were reportedly in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The octopus-like network disrupted the economy by buying, selling and smuggling foreign currency and gold coins," Mizan said.