LOC02:24
23:24 GMT
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (KUNA) -- The US Department of Justice announced Tuesday that Turkey's state-owned bank Halk Bankasi (or Halkbank) was charged in a Federal Court in "a six-count indictment with fraud, money laundering, and sanctions offenses related to the bank's participation in a multibillion-dollar scheme to evade US sanctions on Iran."
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said in a statement that "Halkbank allegedly conspired to undermine the United States Iran sanctions regime by illegally giving Iran access to billions of dollars' worth of funds, all while deceiving US regulators about the scheme."
"This is one of the most serious Iran sanctions violations we have seen, and no business should profit from evading our laws or risking our national security," he stressed.
For his part, US Attorney Geoffrey Berman said, "As alleged in today's indictment, Halkbank's systemic participation in the illicit movement of billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil revenue was designed and executed by senior bank officials."
"The bank's audacious conduct was supported and protected by high-ranking Turkish government officials, some of whom received millions of dollars in bribes to promote and protect the scheme," he added.
Furthermore, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney stressed that "Halkbank illegally facilitated the illicit transfer of billions of dollars to benefit Iran, and for far too long the bank and its leaders willfully deceived the United States to shield their actions from scrutiny."
"The FBI will aggressively pursue those who intentionally violate US sanctions laws and attempt to undercut our national security," he affirmed.
The DOJ indicated that "Halkbank participated in several types of illicit transactions for the benefit of Iran, where "through these methods, Halkbank illicitly transferred approximately USD 20 billion worth of otherwise restricted Iranian funds."
The DOJ has previously charged nine individual defendants, including bank employees, the former Turkish Minister of the Economy, and other participants in the scheme. (end)
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