Reza Zarrab Admits to Bribing Turkish Officials and Evading Sanctions on Iran

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish businessman, confessed on Wednesday, November 29, in a New York court that he helped Iran evade sanctions and bribed Turkish officials. According to the Associated Press, Zarrab stated in court that he is cooperating with U.S. officials regarding the case of circumventing Iran's sanctions. The U.S. Attorney's Office has accused Zarrab, born in Iran, of assisting the Iranian government and institutions from 2010 to 2015 in moving hundreds of millions of dollars of their assets to bypass sanctions. In this case, nine individuals have been charged, but two of them, Zarrab and Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a manager at Turkey's Halkbank, are in custody in the U.S. Last month, Zarrab accepted seven charges against him, including conspiracy, violating U.S. sanctions, bank fraud, money laundering, and bribing a prison guard for alcohol and phone access in prison. He also confirmed that through his lawyers, he sought to arrange a prisoner swap for himself earlier this year. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York and an ally of Donald Trump, and Michael Mukasey, former U.S. Attorney General, are among the lawyers who were hired by Zarrab. NBC recently reported, citing informed sources, that Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the U.S. elections, is looking into whether Michael Flynn, former national security advisor to Trump, discussed with Turkish officials the extradition of Fethullah Gülen and Zarrab's release. NBC reported that when Flynn was part of Trump's transition team, he met with Turkish officials in New York and was offered $15 million in exchange for Gülen's extradition and Zarrab's release. U.S. Attorney Sidara Kamara asked Zarrab on Wednesday if the discussions, including a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, were successful, to which he replied, 'No.' Zarrab also stated that after he decided to cooperate with U.S. officials, he met with the FBI. U.S. prosecutors say Zarrab and Atilla transferred Iran's oil revenues through money laundering, which violates U.S. sanctions. According to prosecutors, Zarrab and Atilla bribed high-ranking Turkish officials in this 'conspiracy.' Atilla has denied the charges, and his lawyer fiercely attacked Zarrab on Tuesday. Zarrab also identified the Halkbank director as his partner in the allegations. He admitted to bribing Mehmet Zafer Çağlayan, the former Turkish economy minister, to transfer gold to Iran. According to Reuters, Zarrab confessed that in 2012, he agreed with Çağlayan to split half of his profits with him. The Turkish government previously stated that Çağlayan acted within the framework of Turkish law and international law. Çağlayan is also one of the nine individuals pursued by the U.S. Zarrab testified in court that he paid over $50 million in bribes to Çağlayan, who helped him reach an agreement with Halkbank, allowing Iran to spend its money abroad through gold transfers. Zarrab stated that the then-general manager of Halkbank, Süleyman Aslan, initially refused to cooperate with him. Aslan is also one of the individuals pursued by the U.S. Zarrab further mentioned that he initially conducted Iran's money transfers through Turkey's Aktif Bank. According to Zarrab, after a recommendation from Egemen Bağış, this bank eventually agreed to cooperate with him. U.S. prosecutors had refrained from announcing Zarrab's cooperation with U.S. officials for a while to secure a reduction in his sentence. Zarrab and his wife, Turkish singer Ebru Gündeş, along with their daughter, traveled to the U.S. in 2016 to visit 'World Disney,' which led to Zarrab's arrest. Zarrab's trial in Turkey is being closely monitored. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly called for Zarrab's extradition. The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister recently stated that Zarrab is being 'held hostage' in the U.S. to testify against the Turkish government. U.S. prosecutors stated in November that 'the Turkish government and officials of its banks have been an inseparable element of the process of circumventing sanctions.' According to the prosecution, recorded phone conversations and other evidence indicate that Zarrab was acting in the interests of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In one of these conversations dated April 16, 2013, Zarrab told another defendant in the case that he was considering establishing a bank for conducting Iran's banking transactions. Zarrab's case is also being closely followed in Iran due to his partnership with Babak Zanjani, a jailed billionaire accused of failing to return oil revenues during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency to the Ministry of Oil.