Reza Zarrab Denies US Accusations of Violating Iran Sanctions

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish gold trader, denied the US accusations against him regarding million-dollar transactions with the Iranian government and violating sanctions on Wednesday, April 27, during the first court session in New York City. According to Reuters, Zarrab was arrested last month in Miami on charges of participating in transactions that helped the Iranian government circumvent US sanctions. He appeared in Manhattan federal court before Judge Richard Berman to be informed of the charges. Benjamin Brafman, Zarrab's attorney, told reporters: 'With Mr. Zarrab's transfer to New York, we can begin the process of defending him against the charges.' He expressed hope that he could propose a 'significant' amount for Zarrab's bail within the next ten days. Last month, in addition to Zarrab's arrest, the US issued warrants for one of his employees named Camelia Jamshidi and Hossein Najafzadeh, a senior employee of Bank Mellat in Iran. These two are still at large. The US prosecutor's office has charged 33-year-old Reza Zarrab, 29-year-old Camelia Jamshidi, and 65-year-old Hossein Najafzadeh with conspiracy to commit fraud in the US, violating emergency laws related to Iran's financial sanctions, bank fraud, and money laundering. The US prosecutor's office claims that these three helped Iranian individuals and entities, including Bank Mellat, one of the largest banks in Iran, from 2010 to 2015 by transferring money through Zarrab's companies in Turkish and UAE banks to help the Iranian government evade US sanctions. Zarrab was arrested in Miami in March, two months after sanctions against Iran were lifted as a result of that country's nuclear agreement with world powers. Zarrab was also detained for two months at the beginning of 2013 during a wide-ranging investigation into the financial corruption of senior Turkish officials. In that investigation, the Turkish prosecutor's office accused Zarrab and three ministers of the Turkish cabinet of participating in the transfer of money to Iran in the form of gold smuggling. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president who was then the prime minister, characterized the corruption case as an effort by his opponents to orchestrate a coup against the government. Several prosecutors involved in the case were dismissed from their positions, some police officials resigned, and ultimately the investigation was closed. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of one of the opposition parties in Turkey, expressed hope that Zarrab's arrest in the US would reveal new truths about the financial corruption investigations in the Turkish government.