A U.S. appeals court has ruled that Turkish state-owned bank Halkbank could be prosecuted for helping Iran evade US sanctions.
The 2nd Regional Court of Appeals of the USA ruled in fact that the Turkish bank, for this activity, is not covered by the immunity due to its headquarters in a country outside the USA.
Robert Cary, a lawyer for Williams & Connolly representing Halkbank, declined to comment. There was no comment from either the Turkish Foreign Ministry or Halkbank itself.
Prosecutors have accused Halkbank of converting oil revenues into gold and then cash in favor of Iranian interests, and of falsifying food shipment documents to justify money laundering.
U.S. prosecutors also say Halkbank helped Iran smuggle $ 20 billion, with at least $ XNUMX billion being laundered through the US financial system.
Halkbank has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit counterfeit money laundering and the creation of fictitious companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to circumvent US sanctions. .
The bank has said it is exempt from prosecution under US federal law granting immunity because it is owned by the Turkish state.
The court said Halkbank was combining its intention - to act as a repository for the Turkish government's revenue from Iranian oil and gas - with its action, which was a money laundering scheme.
The Court of Appeal also ruled that even if the law "provides immunity from sovereignty in criminal matters, the infringing conduct for which Halkbank is accused falls within the exclusion of FSIA's commercial activities from the immunity of States".
Halkbank had appealed against the October 1 decision of US District Judge Richard Berman, which allowed her to be prosecuted.
Berman has overseen several related cases, including the conviction of former Halkbank executive Mehmet Hakan Attila and the admission of guilt by Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab.
The Halkbank case has complicated US-Turkish relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan backing Halkbank's innocence in a 2018 memo to then-US President Donald Trump.
U.S. officials have also openly stated that as long as Trump was president, his "friend" Erdogan was not in danger from the Halkbank scandal.
It is also noted that the bank was associated with the name of Erdogan's son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, who mysteriously resigned as finance minister in November 2020, citing health reasons, when a federal judge in New York had decided to take the bank case to trial.
The lower court had scheduled a trial to begin on May 3, but the proceedings were suspended during the appeal and a new trial has not yet been scheduled.
It should be noted that the second largest Turkish bank is "in danger" with a fine of 20 billion dollars and, if imposed, it will probably be the final blow to the Turkish economy, which is already collapsing, but also to private deposits and companies in Halkbank.
in.gr
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