ErdoÄŸan knew of alleged Iranian scheme to evade sanctions via Turkey, court told

[TomSea]

ErdoÄŸan knew of alleged Iranian scheme to evade sanctions via Turkey, court told
Kareem Shaheen

A scheme Iran allegedly used to evade sanctions through a state-owned bank in Turkey has been detailed in court by a businessman who claimed the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, had been aware of the billion-dollar operation.

In a case that has strained relations between Turkey and the US, Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, described a sprawling money laundering network that allowed Iran access to international markets from 2010 to 2015 in violation of sanctions over its nuclear programme.

He told jurors in New York on Thursday that Erdoğan, who was prime minister of Turkey at the time, had personally authorised a transaction on behalf of Iran. Zarrab said he had bribed the then Turkish economy minister Zafer Çağlayan and the former head of the state-owned Halkbank.

Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/30/us-court-alleged-iran-scheme-avoid-sanctions-turkey