NEW YORK—U.S. authorities have arrested an executive of a Turkish state-owned bank accused of conspiring with prominent Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab and others to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The arrest of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a deputy general manager of Halkbank, expands a case that has drawn criticism from Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who said he believed U.S. authorities had “ulterior motives” in prosecuting Zarrab.
Atilla’s arrest was made public one day after it was revealed that Zarrab had added Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a confidante of President Donald Trump, to his legal team.
Turkey’s relations with the United States had deteriorated under former President Barack Obama, and officials in Ankara had been hoping for improvement under Trump.
It is unclear whether Atilla has hired a lawyer for his defense. Turkish officials contacted by Reuters said they had no information on the arrest.
According to a criminal complaint made public on Tuesday, Atilla worked with Zarrab and others from 2010 to 2015 to conceal Zarrab’s ability to supply currency and gold to Iran’s government and various entities in that country through a Turkish bank, without subjecting the bank to U.S. sanctions.
As part of that scheme, Atilla and Zarrab tricked numerous U.S. banks to process illegal transactions, through the use of front companies and false invoices, the complaint said.
The transactions were disguised to appear as though they involved food, and thus subject to humanitarian exceptions to the sanctions, the complaint said.
“United States sanctions are not mere requests or suggestions; they are the law,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan said in a statement.
Attila, 47, was arrested on Monday and expected to appear on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court, Kim’s office said.
The defendant is charged with conspiracies to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum 30-year prison term, and violate U.S. sanctions, which carries a maximum 20-year term.
