| Feds Flip Turkish Crook; Did He Rat on Michael Flynn? |
| Tuesday, 28 November 2017 13:59 |
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Zavadski writes: "Reza Zarrab, a Turkish businessman accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, pleaded guilty and will testify against his co-defendant, a federal court heard Tuesday. Zarrab's cooperation with federal prosecutors could have implications for Michael Flynn, who allegedly plotted on behalf of Turkish interests to help free Zarrab."
Feds Flip Turkish Crook; Did He Rat on Michael Flynn?28 November 17
Zarrab, a 34-year-old Turkish-Iranian gold trader, is at the center of an Iran sanctions-busting case in which he used his companies and Turkish state-run banks to trade cash for gold in order to secretly buy oil from Iran. A former deputy general manager of one of those banks, Mehmet Atilla, is charged as part of that same conspiracy. Atilla’s lawyers complained that co-defendant Zarrab had vanished in the weeks before trial was to start, an indication that he was no longer cooperating with them but instead federal prosecutors. He is expected to testify Tuesday or Wednesday. Zarrab’s apparent cooperation with federal prosecutors raised speculation that he was also cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s inquiry into Flynn, because it seemed unlikely prosecutors would offer a plea deal to Zarrab in exchange for his cooperation for the comparatively lower-profile trial of Atilla. Shortly after Zarrab seemed to flip, Flynn’s lawyers terminated a joint defense agreement with the Trump defense team last week. Flynn’s lawyer reportedly met with members of the Mueller probe on Monday, ABC News reported, a further indication that the embattled ex-national security adviser is also pursuing a plea deal. Zarrab’s plight was reportedly raised by Turkish interests in a December 2016 meeting with Flynn, who was designated to be President Trump’s national security adviser. Flynn was supposedly offered $15 million to arrange Zarrab’s release and to kidnap an exiled Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania, Fethullah Gulen, and bring him to Turkey. (Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Gulen, a former ally, of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup.) The Zarrab case has roiled the upper echelons of the Turkish government and stems from a 2013 corruption scandal, which allegedly revealed that top-level ministers took bribes to sign off on the sanctions evasions—and even allegedly captured Erdogan and his son talking about how to hide money. Erdogan has repeatedly raised Zarrab’s release with U.S. officials from the Obama and Trump administrations. Zarrab even retained friends of President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Mukasey, to negotiate a diplomatic release with the top levels of the Trump and Erdogan administrations. After the jury was selected Monday, Atilla’s lawyers asked the judge to delay the trial so they could prepare for a mystery witness. “The government should also make clear that the mystery witness is Mr. Reza Zarrab,” Judge Richard Berman wrote in a ruling denying the motion to postpone trial on Monday. “This is something that experienced counsel knew or should have known about for months.” During opening arguments on Tuesday, Atilla's team sough to discredit Zarrab, who “never saw a bribe he didn’t like,” attorney Victor Rocco “He bribed a prison guard and other prisoners so he would have special access.” Those bribes, allegedly for liquor, drugs, and women, took place in U.S. jails, Rocco alleged. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York would not comment on those allegations, or whether there will be charges stemming from them. |
eza Zarrab, a Turkish businessman accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran, pleaded guilty and will testify against his co-defendant, a federal court heard Tuesday. 