US judge dismisses prosecution of Halkbank in Iran sanctions case

NEW YORK — A U.S. federal judge has dismissed the long-running prosecution of Turkey's Halkbank over alleged violations of American sanctions on Iran, court records show. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman granted the motion to end the case after U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Manhattan federal prosecutor's office, requested dismissal, citing the bank's completion of required regulatory and compliance conditions. U.S. authorities had accused Halkbank of laundering billions of dollars in Iranian oil and natural gas revenue through a scheme that stretched over several years. The Justice Department charged the bank in 2019 with six counts of fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations, calling the case one of the most serious sanctions-busting prosecutions it had brought. In March, the department announced a deferred-prosecution agreement under which the case would be dropped if Halkbank's compliance programs passed an independent review. Halkbank's lawyers told Judge Berman in a 12-page joint filing on June 10 that the bank had met its regulatory and supervisory obligations. Under the agreement, the bank hired a Turkish accounting firm affiliated with Ernst & Young to conduct the review. The completed review found no violations involving Iran or Iranian individuals and entities in Halkbank's transactions, according to the filing. The case is now formally closed.