Reza Zarrab

Reza Zarrab
Born (1983-09-12) 12 September 1983 (age 41)
Tabriz, Iran
CitizenshipIran[1]
Azerbaijan[2]
Turkey[3]
North Macedonia
Years active2004–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2010; div. 2021)​
Children1

Reza Zarrab (Persian: رضا ضراب, Turkish: Rıza Sarraf;[4] born 12 September 1983) is an Iranian-born businessman based in Turkey. He has Iranian,[1] Azerbaijani,[2] Turkish[1] and Macedonian citizenship.[5][6]

In March 2016, he was arrested in the United States,[1] accused of being a member of an international criminal organization. He was charged with evading US economic sanctions on Iran and money laundering[1] in an alleged racket scheme to help Iran bypass the sanctions, involving ministers of the Turkish government of then prime minister and now president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.[7][8]

His father, Hossein Zarrab, had a close relationship with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,[9] who was the President of Iran from 2005 to 2013. The US Department of Treasury accused Hossein Zarrab of violating US sanctions on Iran, and fined him a $9.1 million, reduced to $2.3 million following his cooperation with US officials.[10] His charges; conspiracy to defraud, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, money laundering, and bank fraud; could bring up to 70 years in prison if found guilty in the US Federal Court.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference dofj was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pamuk, Humeyra (29 April 2014). "Special Report – Golden Loophole: How an alleged Turkish crime ring helped Iran". Reuters. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Yolsuzluk operasyonu, Reza Zarrab kimdir". Habertürk (in Turkish). 19 December 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Turkey corruption allegations included in Reza Zarrab case in US". Hürriyet Daily News. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  6. ^ TM (16 June 2016). "NY court denies bail for Iranian mogul Zarrab, announces US Attorney Bharara – Turkish Minute". www.TurkisMminute.com. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. ^ Tastekin, Fehim (23 March 2016). "Is Corruption Suspect's US Arrest Bad News For Erdogan?". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Iran's Turkish Connection: Golden Squeal: Did Officials Help Evade Sanctions?". The Economist. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  9. ^ mshabani (9 May 2016). "The downfall of two Iranian tycoons". al-monitor.com. Archived from the original on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Zarrab'ı kim TC vatandaşı yaptı". hurriyet.com.tr. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2017.