Judge dismisses US criminal indictment of Turkey's Halkbank

A US federal judge dismissed the 2019 indictment against Turkish state-run lender Halkbank, ending a prosecution that had strained relations between the US and Turkey.

A federal judge dismissed on Wednesday the U.S. Justice Department's criminal indictment of Halkbank after President Donald Trump's administration reached a deal with the ‌Turkish state-run lender, ending a prosecution brought in 2019. The action was taken by Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Richard Berman. The agreement, announced in March, promised to relieve a lingering irritant in relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. The announcement of the settlement ‌sent Halkbank's shares soaring on the Istanbul stock exchange.

Halkbank was charged during Trump's first term in office with helping Iran ‌evade American economic sanctions. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan once called the case unlawful and "ugly." But the countries now are experiencing their best ties in decades since Trump's return to the presidency last year. The Justice Department has said dropping the prosecution would further the U.S. interest in curbing support for Iran. ⁠The agreement bars ​Halkbank from entering transactions that ⁠benefit Iran and requires a monitor to review Halkbank's sanctions and anti-money laundering compliance. No money changes hands in the agreement, and the bank did not admit ⁠criminal wrongdoing. Halkbank had pleaded not guilty in the case. After the deal was announced, the judge paused the case for 90 days to allow ​Halkbank to demonstrate compliance with its terms. Halkbank hired Ernst & Young to review its compliance policies. The case has ⁠taken a circuitous path through the U.S. courts. The U.S. Supreme Court last October let stand a lower court's decision that allowed the prosecution to proceed. ⁠Halkbank ​had argued that as a Turkish state-owned entity, it should be immune from legal actions in another country's courts. The settlement was announced after the Iran war began in February. U.S. prosecutors had accused Halkbank of secretly transferring $20 billion of restricted funds, converting ⁠oil revenue into gold and cash to benefit Iranian interests and documenting fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.

After Erdogan ⁠and Trump met last year, ⁠the Turkish president expressed hope for a resolution of the Halkbank matter. Erdogan said in October that Trump told him during a September meeting at the White House and in a subsequent ‌phone call that "the Halkbank ‌problem is finished for us."