US Prosecutors Demand Higher Penalties for Halkbank for Refusing to Appear in Court

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The US government has indicated that Turkey's state-owned Halkbank should be given escalating fines for refusing to appear in court in the lawsuit filed for evading the US economic sanctions against Iran.

As reported by Reuters and Bloomberg, the US prosecutors have raised this request "to apply a sufficient pressure to cause the defendant to cease its contempt and appear in court in this matter."

While the prosecutors initially requested 1 million dollars a day over its contempt of court, this figure could now double after each hearing and increase to 7 million dollars in the first week, to 21 million dollars in the second week and to 1.8 billion dollars at the end of the eighth week.

Halkbank's US attorney Andrew Hruska has not responded to the requests for comment, Bloomberg and Reuters have reported further.

Halkbank refused to respond in court

On October 15, US prosecutors filed a total of six charges against the state-owned Halkbank, including "money laundering" and "fraud."

In a written statement released about the judicial process, it was indicated that Halkbank was the part of a system to evade the US sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. This system was in effect for years and reached billions of dollars in total, the statement read further.

While the prosecutors alleged that Iran could reach otherwise restricted oil revenues of 20 billion dollars thanks to Halkbank, the attorneys of the bank rejected the charges and refused to respond to the allegations in court

As Halkbank refuses to appear in court, the US prosecutors have been accusing the bank of contempt of court.

Judge rejected the request of Halkbank

In December 2019, US District Judge Richard Berman rejected a request by Turkey's state-owned Halkbank to pause the case for evading Iran sanctions.

"Simply stated, the court rejects Halkbank's efforts to avoid and delay appropriate district court proceedings," he wrote in a five-page decision.

"Halkbank has two reasonable choices: it can either appear in a U.S. court to raise any legitimate defense or it can choose not to appear and face any attendant risks", it was further indicated in the decision.

Berman was also the judge of the case where Halkbank former Deputy General Manager Richard Berman was convicted.

The next hearing of Halkbank will be held on February 25. (TP/SD)