US imposes 10-year trading ban on former Halkbank executive Hakan Atilla

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive

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The US Department of Commerce's Industry and Security Bureau has issued an "Order Denying Export Privileges" for former Borsa İstanbul Director General and former state-run Halkbank Deputy General Manager Hakan Atilla on the grounds that he was convicted of "circumventing the sanctions on Iran." The ban will remain in effect for 10 years.

The decision of the US Industry and Security Bureau has briefly read, "From the date of this Order until May 16, 2028, Mehmet Hakan Atilla when acting for or on his behalf, his successors, assigns, employees, agents or representatives, may not, directly or indirectly, participate in any way in any transaction involving any commodity, software or technology exported or to be exported from the United States that is subject to the Regulations," the Industry and Security Bureau said in a notice."

As reported by the BBC Türkçe, the Bureau has further indicated that "in accordance with Part 756 of the Regulations, Atilla may file an appeal of this Order with the Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security. The appeal must be filed within 45 days from the date of this Order and must comply with the provisions of Part 756 of the Regulations."

What happened?

Reza Zarrab, a businessperson with dual citizenship of Iran and Turkey, was detained at Miami Airport on March 19, 2016. He was arrested on March 21. He was charged with violating sanctions on Iran, money laundering, "conspiracy against the US," and defrauding US banks.

During Zarrab's trial, Turkey sent a diplomatic note to the US embassy, requesting information about the businessperson as it was not able to hear from Zarrab and was concerned about his life safety.

As part of the same investigation, Hakan Atilla, the then deputy general manager of Halkbank, was detained at New York JFK Airport on March 29, 2017. He was also remanded in custody shortly after.

The court combined the cases of Hakan Atilla and Reza Zarrab in April 2017. In his first hearing on April 27, Zarrab, facing up to 95 years of imprisonment, denied the accusations of conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran, money laundering and bank fraud.

Facing a prison sentence of up to 90 years and a 50 million US dollars fine, Reza Zarrab became a confessor in October 2017. He admitted that he used Halkbank to trade gold for natural gas. After Zarrab's confession, Attila remained the sole defendant in the trial.

In September 2017, then Minister of Economy Zafer Çağlayan, former Halkbank General Director Süleyman Aslan, Halkbank Deputy General Director in Charge of International Operations Levent Balkan and Zarrab's worker Abdullah Happani were added as defendants.

On October 26, Reza Zarrab pleaded guilty and admitted that he had bribed the then Minister of Economy Zafer Çağlayan and explained the business traffic that he had followed to evade sanctions.

On January 3, 2018, jury members found Atilla guilty of five of six charges. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison on May 16, 2018. After completing his sentence, Attila returned to Turkey on July 24, 2019.

On October 15, 2019, US prosecutors charged Halkbank with six offenses: defrauding the US, conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In October 2019, he was appointed as the director-general of Borsa İstanbul stock exchange. He resigned on March 8, 2021. (EKN/SD)