EARLIER this year, FBI agents detained Reza Zarrab (pictured), a Turkish gold trader, at Miami’s international airport. His lawyer said he was on a family trip to Disney World. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, batted away questions about the arrest. “This issue is of no concern to our country,” he said.
It now appears otherwise. The investigation into Mr Zarrab, who is accused of using his gold business to help Iran’s government skirt American sanctions, has dredged up embarrassing details about the young businessman’s relationship with senior Turkish officials. In their bid to stop the court accepting Mr Zarrab’s offer of a $ 50m bail package, American prosecutors alleged that he had paid three Turkish ministers and the head of Halkbank, a state lender, tens of millions of dollars in bribes to keep his business running and hobble competitors. They also pointed to more than $ 4.5m in donations by Mr Zarrab to a charity founded by Mr Erdogan’s wife. “If the defendant were able to reach Turkish soil, he could cause the highest levels of Turkish government to block his return to the United States,” they concluded.
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The Economist: Europe
