U.S. Judge Wants To Know If Iran or Turkey Paying Lawyers In Reza Zarrab Iran Sanctions Case.

Reza Zarrab Arrested for Conspiring to Evade U.S. Sanctions Against Iran, Money Laundering ---close ally of Erdogan https://t.co/VHt39ObWPE

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) March 21, 2016

U.S. Judge Wants To Know If Iran or Turkey Paying Lawyers In Reza Zarrab Iran Sanctions Case.(rferl).

A U.S. judge said he wants to know whether Iran employs any lawyers for a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader accused of helping Tehran evade U.S. sanctions.

In an order on Mary 1, Manhattan District Judge Richard Berman said he planned to ask at a hearing on May 2 whether former New York Mayor and Trump adviser Rudolph Giuliani or any other lawyer for trader Reza Zarrab had been hired by Iran or Turkey.

The hearing will focus on whether conflicts of interest bar Giuliani and former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey from representing Zarrab. The trader has pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges that he directed a conspiracy to launder money through U.S. banks on behalf of Iran's government in violation of U.S. sanctions.

Giuliani and Mukasey say they were hired to try to negotiate a political resolution of his case between the United States and Turkey.

The attorneys have discussed Zarrab's case with U.S. authorities and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has accused U.S. authorities of having "ulterior motives" in bringing the charges.

In an affidavit last month, Giuliani said authorities in both countries were "receptive" to a diplomatic deal.

Way more information on the Iranian Lifeline By Obama's BFF Erdogan can be read on WashingtonPoint his account, recomended reading if you want the truth.

Iranian Reza Zarrab on his yacht w celebrity singer wife.Police members who uncoverd his coruption ring sent to jail pic.twitter.com/sMv1JiDJPz

— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) July 22, 2014

US Dep of Justice accuses Iranian, Turkish citizens of evading sanctions.

US Dep of Justice accuses Iranian, Turkish citizens of evading sanctions. (Taz).

The Manhattan Attorney has announced charges against Turkish and Iranian nationals for conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran as well as other offences.

“They allegedly used the US banking system to conduct international financial transactions for Iranian entities,” Department of Justice’s official website reported.

Habibollah Zarei, Bora Deniz, Nesteren Zarei Deniz and Abdullah Evren Erdem are accused of conducting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions on behalf of the government of Iran and other Iranian entities using the US financial system, which was barred by United States sanctions.

They are also accused of laundering funds in connection with those illegal transactions and defrauding several financial institutions by concealing the true nature of these transactions.

“The four defendants are alleged to have orchestrated fraudulent transactions that were intended to hide the fact that the transactions were for the benefit of Iranian entities and to have laundered funds in connection with that illegal activity,” said the Department of Justice.

All four defendants currently remain at large.

The charges on Turkish and Iranian citizens come as the Manhattan Attorney also announced Nov. 7 that the files of four other Iranian and Turkish citizens – charged of evading the sanctions – were submitted to a court.

According to a report, superseding indictment alleges that four defendants – Mohammad Zarrab, Reza Zarrab, Camelia Jamshidy and Hossein Najafzadeh – allegedly used the US banking system to conduct international financial transactions for an Iranian airline put under sanctions for supporting terrorist groups.

The superseding indictment further alleges that they participated in financial transactions for the benefit of Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned for providing services for the Iranian Qods Force and Hizbullah

Reza Zarrab was arrested on March 19, 2016, and is scheduled to stand trial on January 23, 2017.

Mohammad Zarrab, Jamshidy and Najafzadeh remain at large.

Ankara 'court': Access to Facebook to be partially blocked in Turkey.

Ankara 'court': Access to Facebook to be partially blocked in Turkey. (Taz).

The access to Facebook will be partially blocked in Turkey in accordance with the decision of Ankara court, Milliyet newspaper reported on Jan.26.

Moreover, it is expected that the access to a number of Facebook accounts, which propagate hatred against Islam and insult Islamic values, will also be blocked in the country.

It was reported on Jan.14 that the access to several social networks, including to Twitter and Facebook will be blocked in Turkey. Reportedly, this decision will be taken due to the online spread of materials about stopping Turkish intelligence service trucks in the country’s Adana province in 2014.

Earlier, Turkish Minister for Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Lutfi Elvan said that access to the Internet can be blocked in Turkey without a court decision if required for national security interests.

Elvan said that the ministry will be authorized to temporarily restrict Internet access and block access to the mentioned sites if materials that can harm national interests are revealed there.

Turkey previously blocked known websites for security concerns in 2014. Under a court decision, Turkey blocked Twitter on March 21, 2014.

Another popular service Youtube was blocked on April 5, 2014, when an audio recording of a secret meeting on the situation in Syria was uploaded to YouTube on March 27, 2014.

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.