U.S. Supreme Court to hear Turkish lender Halkbank's bid to avoid charges
Source: Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court to hear Turkish lender Halkbank's bid to avoid charges
Nate Raymond
Mon, October 3, 2022 at 9:43 AM·3 min read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Turkish state-owned lender Halkbank's bid to avoid criminal charges of money laundering, bank fraud and conspiracy for allegedly helping Iran evade economic sanctions in a case that has strained American relations with NATO ally Turkey.
The justices took up Halkbank's appeal of a lower court's decision rejecting the bank's contention that it was immune from U.S. prosecution under a 1976 law called the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which limits the jurisdiction of American courts over lawsuits against foreign countries, because the business is majority-owned by Turkey's government.
Federal prosecutors in New York in 2019 brought charges against Halkbank, accusing it of participating in a scheme to launder about $20 billion of Iranian oil and natural gas proceeds in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The bank pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy over allegations that it used money servicers and front companies in Turkey, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions.
-snip-
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/u-supreme-court-hear-turkish-134357239.html