The US Department of Justice has formally asked a federal judge to dismiss its criminal case against Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, saying it no longer intends to prosecute the lender, Reuters reported.
The request, filed Wednesday by prosecutors from the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, came after Halkbank and the US government reached an agreement in March to end the long-running case, which had been a persistent source of tension between Turkey and the United States.
Halkbank, which had pleaded not guilty, was charged during US President Donald Trump’s first term with helping Iran evade American sanctions.
US prosecutors accused the bank of secretly transferring $20 billion in restricted funds, converting Iranian oil revenue into gold and cash and using fake food shipments to disguise transfers of oil proceeds, according to Reuters.
The March agreement does not require Halkbank to pay a fine or admit criminal wrongdoing. It bars the bank from transactions that benefit Iran and requires outside monitoring of its sanctions and anti-money-laundering compliance.
After the deal was announced, US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan paused the case for 90 days to allow Halkbank to show it was complying with the terms of the agreement.
Halkbank hired Ernst & Young to review its compliance policies.
In Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors said the review did not identify any areas of noncompliance and asked Berman to approve their motion to dismiss the case.
A lawyer for Halkbank did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The case had gone through years of litigation in US courts. In October the US Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling allowing the prosecution to move forward, rejecting Halkbank’s argument that as a Turkish state-owned entity, it should be immune from prosecution in foreign courts.
The Halkbank case has also figured prominently in relations between Ankara and Washington.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had described the prosecution as unlawful and “ugly,” while after meeting with Trump last year he expressed hope that the matter would be resolved.
Erdoğan said in October that Trump had told him during a September meeting at the White House and in a later phone call that “the Halkbank problem is finished for us,” according to Reuters.
The settlement was announced after the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in February. The Justice Department has said dropping the prosecution would further US interests in curbing support for Iran.