Turkish bank charged with evading US sanctions on Iran
$20 billion worth of otherwise restricted Iranian funds. It said the bank let Iranian oil and gas money be used to buy gold that was not exported to Iran and let transactions fraudulently designed to appear to be purchases of food and medicine by Iranian customers proceed, qualifying those funds for a “humanitarian exception” allowed under the sanctions. Berman said the crimes were supported and protected by highranking Turkish government officials who received millions of dollars in bribes to promote and protect the scheme.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers called the crimes one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations his office has seen. The indictment of the bank comes in a case that has resulted in charges against nine individuals, including bank employees, the former Turkish Minister of the Economy and other scheme participants. Seven of those individuals remain fugitives.
The charges bring fresh attention to the role Giuliani played in the case as he teamed with Michael B. Mukasey, a former attorney general in President George W. Bush’s administration, to meet with Trump administration officials and Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The talks in 2017 failed to produce a deal. Eventually, Turkish officials criticized US prosecutors as they began a trial of Mehmet Hakkan Atilla, a Halkbank official. Atilla was convicted last year of conspiracies to violate US sanctions law, defraud the US and commit money laundering and bank fraud.