Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank, which has been criminally charged by US prosecutors for helping Iran evade sanctions, will seek to dismiss the case against it, the bank’s lawyer has said in a letter.
US prosecutors had charged the state-owned Turkish bank Halkbank with fraud and money laundering on October 15 over an alleged “multibillion-dollar scheme to evade US sanctions on Iran”.
The charges, came less than 24 hours after Donald Trump issued US sanctions against Turkey over Ankara’s military offensive in northern Syria. Still, there may be more tensions to arise since US members of Congress are pushing for more sanctions against Turkey.
The US government is accusing the bank of using money service businesses and front companies to transfer $20bn in oil revenues to Iran – money that would have been restricted by Washington’s sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“The bank’s audacious conduct was supported and protected by high-ranking Turkish government officials, some of whom received millions of dollars in bribes to promote and protect the scheme,” Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.
“Halkbank will now have to answer for its conduct in an American court.”
Last year, the bank’s deputy general manager, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, was found guilty and sentenced to two years and eight months in jail over similar charges.
Reza Zarrab, a Turkey-based gold trader, had pleaded guilty in the same case and testified against Atilla.
Tuesday’s charges were levelled against Halkbank itself; the US government is seeking the forfeiture of the sum of money obtained by the bank as a result of the alleged scheme.
“Halkbank illegally facilitated the illicit transfer of billions of dollars to benefit Iran, and for far too long the bank and its leaders willfully deceived the United States to shield their actions from scrutiny. That deception ends today,” said FBI assistant director-in-charge William Sweeney Jr.
Andrew Hruska, a lawyer for Halkbank, sent a letter on Monday to US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan, stating that the bank was not agreeing to appear in court on the charges, Reuters news agency reported. The bank has permitted Hruska to appear in court, but only to ask for a dismal of the case. In the letter, Hruska said that Halkbank would also seek to have the judge recused from the case.
Hruska, without giving details, said the judge had “made statements both in and out of the courtroom that call into question the court’s impartiality”.
A hearing is scheduled for the case on Tuesday, and prosecutors have said they may seek a fine against Halkbank if it refuses to appear.
While the US brokered a ceasefire agreement on 17 October and lifted the economic sanctions imposed over the offensive, the charges levied against Halkbank are related to US sanctions against Iran.
