Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a former executive of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank who was convicted in the United States over a sanctions-evasion scheme involving Iran, has claimed that Israel played a role in the long-running US case against the Turkish lender.
Speaking to the Turkish Patronlar Dünyası business news outlet, Atilla described the case as political and claimed that Israel’s influence was felt throughout the process.
“The Halkbank case started with Israel’s influence and ended with Israel,” Atilla said, referring to the prosecution that for years strained relations between Washington and Ankara.
The Halkbank case concerns allegations by US prosecutors that the Turkish state-owned bank helped Iran evade US sanctions by moving billions of dollars through the international financial system.
According to the indictment filed in 2019, the scheme allegedly involved disguising Iranian oil revenue as payments for food and humanitarian goods, using front companies and gold transactions to bypass US restrictions.
The investigation was linked to the prosecution of Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy and later testified against Atilla in New York federal court.
Atilla was convicted in 2018 on bank fraud and conspiracy charges and served most of a 32-month prison sentence in the United States before returning to Turkey in 2019, where he has denied any wrongdoing.
Atilla’s remarks came shortly after the United States reached a deal with Halkbank to resolve the criminal case accusing the lender of helping Iran evade sanctions.
“As far as I understand, the foreign ministries of the two countries appear to have reached an agreement on certain issues at some point. We do not know whose interests it ultimately serves, as we are not privy to those details. I also think Israel had a role in the decision to settle the case. Because as all parties involved in the case can clearly see, Israel’s fingerprints are present throughout the entire process,” Atilla said, without elaborating.
According to a March 9 Reuters report, the agreement, which still requires approval from US District Judge Richard Berman, would end years of legal disputes that have been one of the most persistent sources of tension between the United States and Turkey, two NATO allies.
Under the proposed arrangement, Halkbank would agree not to engage in transactions that benefit Iran and would appoint an independent monitor to review its sanctions and anti–money laundering compliance.
The agreement does not include a financial penalty, and the criminal charges are expected to be dismissed if the bank complies with the monitoring requirements.
US Attorney Jay Clayton said the agreement advances Washington’s efforts to combat terrorist financing and financial support for Iran.
It was reached amid an ongoing war sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and Iran’s subsequent retaliation across the region.
Halkbank said it does not admit any criminal wrongdoing but that the agreement would fully resolve the case.
The case has followed a complex legal path through US courts in recent years, including a review by the US Supreme Court in 2023. The court ruled that laws protecting foreign governments from civil liability do not automatically shield them from criminal prosecution, allowing the case to proceed.
The prosecution has also carried a strong diplomatic dimension. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has repeatedly criticized the case, calling it unlawful and politically motivated.
News of the proposed settlement on Monday pushed Halkbank shares listed on the Istanbul stock exchange up by 10 percent, the maximum daily increase allowed on the market.