NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request by Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank for immunity from U.S. criminal charges that it helped Iran evade American sanctions.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it found no basis in common law for a foreign state-owned corporation to be absolutely immune from U.S. prosecution for alleged criminal conduct related to its commercial activities.
Lawyers for Halkbank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. prosecutors had charged Halkbank in 2019 over its alleged use of money servicers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions.
Prosecutors said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash to benefit Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.
Halkbank pleaded not guilty to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. The case became a thorn in U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling the U.S. charges an “unlawful, ugly” step.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
