Iranians’ Fingerprints in Turkey’s Money Laundering Case
Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 417 suspects to conduct investigations in a money laundering case in Turkey. The detainees are accused of transferring half a billion dollars to banks outside the country.
Reuters reported, citing Turkey’s Attorney General, that this amount, equivalent to 2.5 billion Turkish lira, has been transferred since January 1, 2017 to more than “28,000” bank accounts in the United States that belong to “Iranians in America.”
Turkish media outlets report on nationwide police operations in various provinces, inspections of assets of several individuals, and widespread arrests in the country.
As Reuters reported, the news agency has not yet been able to obtain information from Turkish police and judicial authorities on this matter.
Turkish CNN reported, citing Turkish prosecutors, that individuals in the country have been prosecuted for endangering Turkey’s “financial and economic security.”
In a statement by Turkish prosecutors, the detainees are accused of establishing a money laundering ring aimed at committing “crimes” and “violating counter-terrorism financing laws.”
This is not the first time that cooperation between Iranians and Turks in money laundering has been raised.
Previously, Reza Zarrab, an Iranian merchant based in Turkey who was detained in Turkey on charges of economic corruption, was convicted of charges including collaboration in transferring a shipment of gold to Iran, illegal transfer of money and currency through a bank belonging to the Turkish government, and paying bribes to relatives of government officials.
He was later arrested and imprisoned in the United States on charges of circumventing sanctions against the Islamic Republic and violating U.S. laws in this regard.
Other charges against Mr. Zarrab include conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, bank fraud, and money laundering.
In the Reza Zarrab case, the name of Muhammad Hakan Atilla, a Turkish banker at the state bank “Halk Bank” (People’s Bank), also appears, who was sentenced to 32 months in prison in a New York court for violating Iran sanctions.
Mr. Hakan’s defense team said he is “a victim of Reza Zarrab, the architect of this conspiracy,” and Zarrab, by accepting his own “guilt,” cooperated with American prosecutors in hopes of reducing his sentence.
Zarrab testified as a witness in Hakan’s court and said that senior Turkish officials had a hand in violating American sanctions against Iran by Halk Bank, and that these actions were carried out with the approval of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey; a charge that Mr. Erdoğan denies.
Source: Radio Farda
