A top Turkish banker convicted in the US of busting sanctions on Iran resigned on Monday as the chief executive of the Istanbul stock exchange, state media reported.
Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who served as deputy director general of Turkish lender Halkbank, was convicted in 2018 of plotting to help Iran evade US sanctions in a multi-billion dollar gold-for-oil scheme, AFP reported.
Atilla was released from jail in the US in 2019 after spending two years behind bars, and was named head of the stock exchange in October 2019.
Atilla resigned “of his own accord,” the Borsa Istanbul exchange said in a statement, quoted by state news agency Anadolu.
A US federal court is expected to put Halkbank on trial later this year after charging it with six counts of fraud, money laundering and sanctions offences in 2019.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed the claims, insisting the case against Atilla was “politically motivated.”
Atilla served as deputy CEO of Turkish lender Halkbank and was responsible for international banking between 2011 and 2018.
Observers have suggested that Atilla’s resignation would be a preemptive step for a potential ruling against Halkbank, one of the three state-owned banks. A large fine and other punitive actions against Halkbank could rock Turkey’s banking system.
US prosecutors allege Iran funneled some $20 billion in oil revenue through Halkbank to sidestep sanctions for its nuclear program in 2012 and 2013.
The case dates back to 2016, when Reza Zarrab, a businessperson with dual citizenship of Iran and Turkey, was taken into custody at Miami Airport in March.
He was charged with violating sanctions against 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.
The court combined the cases of Atilla and Zarrab in April 2017.
Zarrab became a confessor in October 2017 and admitted that he used Halkbank to trade gold for natural gas. Following his confession, Attila remained the sole defendant in the trial.
The CEO of Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) resigned on Monday, March 8, 2021 ahead of a US court appeal to a fraud case (Reuters)
