U.S. jury finds Turkish banker guilty of helping Iran dodge sanctions

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Wednesday found a Turkish banker guilty of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, after a nearly four-week trial that has strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Turkey.

Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Turkey’s majority state-owned Halkbank (HALKB.IS), was convicted on five of six counts he faced, including bank fraud and conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions law, in Manhattan federal court.

Atilla was also found not guilty on a money laundering charge.

Prosecutors had accused Atilla of conspiring with gold trader Reza Zarrab and others to help Iran escape sanctions using fraudulent gold and food transactions. Zarrab pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecutors.

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#WORLD NEWS JANUARY 3, 2018 / 10:49 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Brendan Pierson
4 MIN READ


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-turkey-zarrab/u-s-jury-finds-turkish-banker-guilty-of-helping-iran-dodge-sanctions-idUSKBN1ES1D0

[Leghorn21]

1. Preet Bharara is happy about this:

Link to tweet

?s=17

...and if Mr. Bharara is pleased, then so am I!

Thanks, Eugene!

[nitpicker]

2. From the DoJ PR

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/turkish-banker-convicted-conspiring-evade-us-sanctions-against-iran-and-other-offenses

(snip)
Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim stated: “Today, after a full, fair, and open trial, a unanimous jury convicted Hakan Atilla, a senior banker at Halk Bank. Along with the prior guilty plea of Reza Zarrab, two men at the heart of this massive and brazen scheme that blew a billion-dollar hole in the Iran sanctions regime now stand convicted of serious federal crimes. Foreign banks and bankers have a choice: You can choose willfully to help Iran and other sanctioned nations evade U.S. law, or you can choose to be part of the international banking community transacting in U.S. dollars. But you can’t do both. If you lie repeatedly to U.S. Treasury officials and fabricate documents – all as part of a secret scheme to smuggle billions of dollars in Iranian oil money past the U.S. sanctions net – as Atilla did, then you should be prepared for the consequences. The consequence of Atilla’s choice is now a felony conviction in an American court of law.”
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