Members of an Iranian-Turkish Family Accused of Circumventing U.S. Sanctions

The U.S. federal prosecutor's office in the Southern District of New York has accused four members of a family, who hold dual citizenship of Iran and Turkey, of violating U.S. sanctions against Tehran from 2014 to the present. The four individuals are Habibollah Zarei, Nasrin Zarei Deniz, Bara Deniz, and Abdullah Oren Erdem, and according to a statement released by prosecutor Preet Bharara, they engaged in the illegal transfer of 'millions of dollars' for the Iranian government and metal factories between 2014 and January 2016. According to Reuters, these individuals are accused of assisting three companies involved in the export and import of steel and copper to and from Iran, as well as facilitating their money transfers through the U.S. financial system. The prosecutor's statement noted, 'These defendants conspired and planned to hide millions of dollars in financial transactions, specifically to evade U.S. sanctions.' All four defendants are currently free, and it is unclear whether they have retained legal counsel. Habibollah Zarei, 67, is the father of Nasrin Zarei and is also the father-in-law of Bara Deniz (Nasrin's husband) and Abdullah Oren Erdem. All four are Turkish citizens, with Mr. Zarei and his daughter also holding Iranian citizenship. The new charges were announced three days after the U.S. Justice Department increased the number of defendants in the Reza Zarrab case by one, also accusing his brother, Mohammad Zarrab, of violating and circumventing sanctions. Mohammad Zarrab, 38, like his brother, holds dual citizenship of Iran and Turkey, but unlike Reza Zarrab, who is in custody in the United States, he is currently free in Turkey. In the Zarrab case, two other Iranians, Kamelia Jamshidi and Hossein Najafzadeh, are also on the list of defendants for whom arrest warrants have been issued. The charge of defrauding the banking system, which is among the accusations against the Zarei, Deniz, and Erdem family, could alone lead to a sentence of up to 30 years in prison for the defendants.