How a US prosecutor is jolting Turkish markets
US prosecutor Preet Bharara’s probe into the dealings of a Turkish-Iranian businessman has both political and financial repercussions in Turkey.
Investors in the Turkish financial markets are taking blows from a legal battle across the Atlantic these days as a US prosecutor digs deeper into the dealings of an Iranian-Turkish businessman accused of violating US sanctions against Iran with help from high places in Turkey.
Leading the judicial saga is Preet Bharara, US attorney for the Southern District of New York. Bharara’s indictment against businessman Reza Zarrab, who has been under arrest in the United States since March, has rekindled massive corruption allegations against senior figures in Turkey that the government had managed to suppress two years ago.
The jolts of Bharara’s probe, however, are not just felt in the political realm. The financial markets have their own to worry about as Turkey’s second-largest public lender, Halkbank, stands at the heart of the probe. Zarrab allegedly bribed Halkbank managers to process transactions and advance his gold trade scheme to evade sanctions against Iran.
Halkbank shares have lost 16% of their value since March 22, when the news of Zarrab’s arrest in Miami reached Turkey. On March 22 alone, the shares plunged 5%, followed by another dive of nearly 3% on May 26, after Bharara appealed to the US court for denial of Zarrab's bail request, citing corruption allegations in Turkey.
