US Court Finds Turkish Banking Official Guilty in Iran Sanctions Evasion Case

A court in New York on Wednesday, January 3, found Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the former deputy of Turkey's Halkbank, guilty in a case involving the evasion of sanctions against Iran. According to the Associated Press, US officials accused the 47-year-old Mehmet Hakan Atilla of playing a role in circumventing sanctions and facilitating the exchange of Iranian oil and gas for gold using the US financial system. The report states that Mehmet Hakan Atilla was found guilty on four counts. John Kim, the acting federal prosecutor in New York, stated that Mehmet Hakan Atilla was convicted in a complete, fair, and transparent judicial process. Victor Rocco, Atilla's attorney, indicated that he would appeal the court's ruling. Another defense attorney, Katie Fleming, mentioned that Mr. Atilla knows this is just the first round. In the case of evading Iran's sanctions, in addition to the former deputy of Halkbank, Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-Turkish businessman, is also detained in the US. Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-born gold trader, previously admitted in a New York court that he helped Iran evade sanctions and bribed Turkish officials. The US prosecution has accused Zarrab of assisting the Iranian government and institutions from 2010 to 2015 in moving hundreds of millions of dollars of their assets to circumvent sanctions. Zarrab also testified against Turkish officials in court. The Turkish Deputy Prime Minister recently stated that Zarrab has been taken hostage in the US to testify against the Turkish government. Meanwhile, according to the US prosecution, recorded phone conversations and other evidence indicate that Reza Zarrab was acting in the interests of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In one of these conversations dated April 16, 2013, Zarrab told another defendant that he was considering establishing a bank to conduct banking transactions for Iran.