A high-level Turkish banker has been arrested in New York for conspiring with Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. The U.S. government claims Atilla conducted sanctions-busting transactions on behalf of the Iranian government and other Iranian entities. Joon Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement on Tuesday that Atilla had been part of the scheme orchestrated by gold trader Zarrab to tap the U.S. financial system and funnel millions of dollars to Iran illegally. Zarrab is being defended by a number of lawyers, including Rudy Giuliani, a cybersecurity adviser to President Donald Trump. The complaint claims there are recorded phone conversations between Zarrab and Atilla discussing ways to create evidence of food deliveries from Dubai to Iran.

Source: Forbes March 28, 2017 19:41 UTC