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Turkish media digs deeper into gold mogul corruption scandal

New media reports on Reza Zarrab, an Iranian-born Turkish businessman accused in Turkey’s infamous December 2013 corruption probe, could have serious repercussions for Ankara and Tehran.
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Al-Monitor readers may recall the June controversy in Turkey over a pro-government business lobby awarding a “top exporter” prize to Iranian-born Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab. Since then, opposition media outlets in Turkey have intensified their coverage of the allegations against Zarrab, a suspect in the infamous December 2013 corruption probe. The rumors about Zarrab could have serious repercussions for Turkey and Iran.

Zarrab’s 15 minutes of shame continued with a story in the Hurriyet newspaper. Apparently, the chief inspector of Turkey’s Ministry of Customs and Trade conducted a thorough investigation of the famous merchant’s companies in 2014. The 651-page report, which the Hurriyet claims to have in its possession, reaffirms the details of Zarrab’s “gold export” business. Because Turkey lacks serious gold deposits, Zarrab’s firms imported gold bullions into the country only to export them to Iran as well as third parties such as Russia, United Arab Emirates and China. The scheme enabled Tehran to circumvent US-led international financial sanctions against its nuclear program, allowing it to import key items while exporting oil and natural gas. The Turkish report estimates Zarrab’s gold transactions to be worth $8 billion.

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