(New York Times) Eric Lipton - The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed fraud and money-laundering charges against Halkbank, Turkey's second-largest state-owned bank, accusing it of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. One of the bank's top executives was convicted on related charges last year. Prosecutors have been investigating the bank's role in what has been called the largest Iran sanctions violation in U.S. history, as billions of dollars' worth of gold and cash were illegally transferred to Iran in exchange for oil and gas. High-ranking government officials in Turkey "participated in and protected this scheme," with some receiving bribes worth tens of millions of dollars. "No business should profit from evading our laws or risking our national security," said John C. Demers, assistant attorney general for national security.
2019-10-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive