Turkish bank appeals Iran sanctions decision to US Supreme Court

By Jonathan Stempel

Turkey's Halkbank asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling saying it can be prosecuted for allegedly helping Iran evade American sanctions, a U.S.-based lawyer for the bank said on Monday.

The Supreme Court had given Halkbank until Monday to file a petition appealing the October 22, 2024, decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan allowing the prosecution.

In a letter to the appeals court, Halkbank's lawyer Robert Cary said the bank has filed the petition. The petition was not available on the Supreme Court's website. Cary did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Halkbank pleaded not guilty to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges over its alleged use of money servicers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions.

U.S. prosecutors said Halkbank helped Iran secretly transfer $20 billion of restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash to benefit Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.

Brought in 2019, the case has been a thorn in U.S.-Turkey relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan calling it an "unlawful, ugly" step.

The countries' ties have soured in the last decade, amid disagreements on Syria, Ankara's ties with Moscow and other matters.

But on Monday, Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump each said they had a very productive phone call earlier in the day, and had invited each other to their respective countries.

Halkbank's case is making a second trip to the Supreme Court.

In 2023, that court said Congress' desire to shield foreign countries and their instrumentalities from civil liability under the federal Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 did not cover criminal cases.

But in a 7-2 decision, it said the 2nd Circuit should more fully review whether common law immunity shielded Halkbank, leading to last October's ruling.