Gold trader tells US court: I paid ex-Turk minister over Iran deals

NEW YORK: A Turkish-Iranian gold trader paid millions of dollars in bribes to Ankara’s former economy minister to facilitate illegal gold transactions with sanctions-hit Iran, the trader testified.

Reza Zarrab had been due to go on trial Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, but the prosecution made clear that Zarrab was, instead, their star witness.

The lone man in the dock is now Turkish banker Mehmet Hakan Atilla, accused of violating sanctions against Iran, bribery and money laundering.

The case has provoked the ire of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, further straining ties between Nato allies Washington and Ankara.

Analysts believe revelations in the trial could implicate Turks close to Erdogan.

Ankara had demanded for months that Zarrab be freed to avoid the trial.

Turkey has alleged the case is a conspiracy by the movement run by Pennsylvania-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey blames for a coup attempt against Erdogan last year.

Zarrab, 34, testified that he met Turkey’s former economy minister, Zafer Caglayan, in 2012 as Zarrab sought to establish himself as the prime intermediary in lucrative gold traffic involving Turkish and Iranian banks.

The gold-for-oil operation enabled Iran to use revenue from its oil sales for payments on global markets despite the prohibition against US banks doing business with Tehran.

Caglayan offered to help Zarrab become the principal gobetween for the Turkish public bank Halkbank, Zarrab testified, wearing beige prison garb. — AFP