The U.S. Federal Court of Appeals has suspended a lawsuit filed by the US federal government against Turkish state-owned Halkbank, which allegedly helped Iran evade US sanctions over the bank’s appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Friday’s decision by the 2nd U.S. District Court in Manhattan allows Halkbank to appeal without having to defend the criminal part of the case at the same time. It should be noted that the Court of Appeal did not express any opinion on the merits of the appeal.
The US Department of Justice had opposed the postponement, saying Halkbank’s “baseless” allegations did not raise “substantial” issues or outweigh the public interest in a speedy trial.
Halkbank has pleaded not guilty to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to use fictitious companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to avoid sanctions on the former.
Her alleged misconduct includes helping Iran secretly transfer $ 20 billion in illicit funds, including $ 1 billion laundered through the US financial system, and converting oil revenues into gold and then cash into cash. benefit of Iranian interests.
In a decision of October 22, the 2nd Court of Appeals stated that Halkbank could be prosecuted because its alleged misconduct involved a commercial activity that was not covered by state immunity.
Halkbank said the ruling was in conflict with Supreme Court case law, as it “gives the green light for the first criminal trial of a foreign sovereign state in the nation’s history”.
He also said he would suffer irreparable damage if forced to defend “a case from which he has immunity”.
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Source From: Capital
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