Turkey - Erdoğan was 'number one', graft probe prosecutor says.

Turkey - Erdoğan was 'number one', graft probe prosecutor says. HT: TodaysZaman.

Public Prosecutor Celal Kara, who came to public attention as one of several prosecutors overseeing a high-profile graft probe that went public on Dec. 17, 2013, has said then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was the person behind the scenes who knew and approved of a chain of corrupt dealings between several ministers and an Iranian businessman who was a prime suspect in the investigation.

Fifty-three suspects, including bureaucrats, prominent businessmen and the sons of three ministers, were detained in the Dec. 17 operation in 2013. At the heart of the probe was Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who was involved in a money laundering scheme as part of a strategy to bypass US-led sanctions on Iran.

Zarrab was accused of managing a network used to launder at least 87 billion euros to circumvent international sanctions against Iran. In addition, he allegedly bribed ministers, their sons and public officials to keep his network working.

Giving an interview to veteran journalist Can Dündar, which was published in the Cumhuriyet daily on Sunday, Kara, referring to recordings of phone conversations among the graft suspects, said Erdoğan was at top of the ministers' corrupt dealings.

“I think he [Erdoğan] was not involved in [graft] dealings at first. I mean during the period Reza Zarrab was trying to expand his network. … But later, I think he had knowledge of everything after Zarrab said, ‘Let's also do something for the gentleman [a reference to Erdoğan],' and had his relatives become Turkish citizens with exceptional status, paying $1 million for each. This can be heard on the recordings. … In his phone conversation with Abdullah Happani [an employee of Zarrab], Zarrab says, while talking about Egemen Bağış, ‘He will take me to number one.' Who could be the number one above Bağış? It is the prime minister,” said Kara, referring to Erdoğan, who was prime minister at the time  Hmmm......Numero UNO. Read the full story here.