The daily `Iran' said that any business on the cards is "un-Islamic" and carries the same punishment handed out for embezzlement and bribery.

It said that the banking accounts of 94 involved in the business of such cards have been frozen.

The Justice Administration noted that Bench 16 of Tehran's Court of Common Pleas is handling the case against some convicts.

Religious leaders have denounced the gimmick as not only illegal but also `haram,' i.e. prohibited under Islamic tenets.

The business is a system of marketing in which buyers receive money once their names are put in a list after a considerably large number of applicants have been gathered.

The scam has been denounced in Iran as contributing to the flight of foreign currency from the country. Many religious leaders have been called to denounce the gimmick and to warn the public.

The cards are said to have originally been marketed in northeastern city of Mashhad with a large number reportedly having been sold in that city.

In January, a computer company which distributed credit cards, said to be marketed abroad by an Italian company, in the northeastern city of Qouchan was ordered shut down because the cards were found to be fake.

The company had sold some 2000 of such cards, each at 150,000 rials, promising customers they would be a passport to riches.

Victims of the illegal scam in Qouchan and its neighboring villages were told the cards were sold by a legally existing Italian firm, Pentagona.