Hakan Atilla Appointed Chair of İstanbul Stock Exchange

* Photo: AA

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Hakan Atilla, the former Halkbank Deputy General Manager who served 28 months in prison in the US for violating US sanctions against Iran, has been appointed as the Chair of Borsa İstanbul (İstanbul Stock Exchange).

The appointment of Atilla has been announced by Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak on his Twitter account.

"Having reunited with his family and country after an unjust conviction, Hakan Atilla's period of rest has come to an end. He is taking office as the Chair of Borsa İstanbul. I wish that this duty will be to the benefit of his and of the BİST", Minister Albayrak has said on Twitter.

Haksız bir mahkumiyetin ardından ailesine ve ülkesine kavuşan Hakan Atilla‘nın dinlenme dönemi bitti. Borsa İstanbul Genel Müdürü olarak göreve başlıyor.

Bu görevin kendisi ve BIST için hayırlı uğurlu olmasını diliyorum.

— Berat Albayrak (@BeratAlbayrak) October 21, 2019

What happened?

Businessperson Reza Zarrab was detained at Miami International Airport on March 19, 2016. He stood trial and was arrested on March 21.

Zarrab was charged with "violating the sanctions against Iran", "money laundering", "organizing a conspiracy for money laundering" "and "defrauding the US banks" between 2010 and 2015.

While it was anticipated that the investigation could also reach Turkey, the country sent a diplomatic note to the US, demanding information from the US authorities on the ground that Reza Zarrab could not be reached and there were concerns over his security of life.

Arrest of Hakan Atilla

Hakan Atilla was taken into custody as part of Reza Zarrab investigation at New York JFK airport on March 29, 2017. Charged with violating the US sanctions against Iran, Atilla was arrested.

In April 2017, the case files of Zarrab and Atilla were combined.

While Zarrab faced up to 90 years in prison and a judicial fine of 50 million dollars, on October 26, 2017, it was reported in the news that Zarrab accepted the accusations and collaborated with the prosecutor's office.

Zarrab became a confessor

Zarrab confessed that the bank he used for the natural gas trade against gold was Halkbank. After he became a confessor and entered into witness protection, Hakan Atilla remained as the sole defendant of the case. When the trial began at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Reza Zarrab was not a defendant, but a witness.

In the course of the hearing, attorneys of Atilla requested that his file be separated from that of Zarrab. However, their request was rejected.

When the trial started, Reza Zarrab said that he had never bribed Hakan Atilla, but bribed General Manager of Halkbank Süleyman Aslan. Regarding the latter allegation, Atilla stated that he had no information about it and added that he was not bribed by anyone.

Hakan Atilla found guilty

Put on trial at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Atilla was convicted of five of six charges pressed against him.

Accordingly, Hakan Atilla was sentenced to 32 months in prison and a judicial fine of 50 thousand US dollars. The period that he had already served in prison was reduced from his prison term.

Sentenced to 32 months in prison for violating US sanctions against Iran, former Deputy General Manager of Halkbank Hakan Atilla was sent from the US to Turkey on July 24, 2019 after serving 28 months in prison.

About Hakan Atilla

Born in Ankara in 1970, Mehmet Hakan Atilla graduated from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, the Department of Economy. Atilla started his career as an assistant specialist in Research Development and Planning Directorate at Halkbank A.S.

He pursued his career as a specialist in Banking Cards and Cash Management Directorate, as a supervisor and a manager in Strategic Planning Department, as Head of Financial Institutions and Investor Relations, as Board member of Halk Invest Audit and Halk Emeklilik, as Chairman of Halkbank Macedonia.

He worked as the Deputy General Manager in charge of International Banking in Halkbank between the year of 2011-2018. (TP/SD)