Reza Zarrab is an Iranian-born businessman based in Turkey.
16 Facts About Reza Zarrab
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Reza Zarrab was charged with evading US economic sanctions on Iran and money laundering 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 Erdogan.
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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.
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On 1 June 2007 Reza Zarrab received an "exceptional citizenship" and became a Turkish citizen with the decision given by the Turkish Council of Ministers.
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Reza Zarrab was accused of bribing $1.5 million to receive Turkish Citizenship in the indictment.
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In 2008, Reza Zarrab married Turkish pop star, Ebru Gundes and they had a child in 2011.
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Reza Zarrab founded Royal Holding with his brother Mohammed Zarrab in 2010.
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In June 2015, Reza Zarrab received the Turkish Export Award jointly from the hands of Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus, Minister of Economy Nihat Zeybekci, and President of the Turkish Exporters Council Mehmet Buyukeksi, in a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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On 19 March 2016, Reza Zarrab was arrested in Miami, Florida, for conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran, money laundering and bank fraud.
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Reza Zarrab was later indicted by a grand jury with charges that could bring up to 75 years in prison.
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Reza Zarrab has offered to pay $50 million to be granted a bail.
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One of the most striking arguments in the indictment about Reza Zarrab was that the Reza Zarrab family sent a letter addressed to the president of Iran's Central Bank and stated that he was ready for "Economic Jihad" against sanctions on Iran.
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Furthermore, Bekir Bozdag, the Turkish Minister of Justice, visited the United States Attorney General Loretta E Lynch in October 2016 and stated how the Zarrab case was unfounded and that Zarrab should be released.
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Halkbank Deputy Chief Executive Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was in connection with Reza Zarrab, was arrested in the United States in March 2017 with the charges of "conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran and other offenses".
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On 16 November 2017, NBC News, reported that Reza Zarrab is cooperating with federal prosecutors in a money-laundering case and that he was then out of jail, a move President Erdogan had been desperately hoping to avoid.
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Two weeks later, Reza Zarrab reappeared in Manhattan court as a witness in the case against Atilla, having accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors.