Turkey issues arrest warrant for businessman tied to US money laundering 

Prosecutors in Turkey have issued an arrest and detention warrant for a Turkish businessman tied to a tax credit and money-laundering scheme conducted from the United States. The warrant was issued for Sezgin Baran Korkmaz yesterday.

The move follows a joint investigation by Turkey’s tax auditing and financial crimes investigation authorities into the $132 million money laundering scheme. Nineteen directors of companies owned by Korkmaz were also issued with warrants; ten have been detained for interrogation in Istanbul and three other cities.

Korkmaz was formerly a business partner with executives of a biodiesel company based in Salt Lake City, the brothers Jacob and Isaiah Kingston. They were found guilty by the US authorities of creating fake production records through their company Washakie Renewable Energy, which enabled them to receive renewable fuel tax credits that they then laundered from 2010 to 2016.

At least $132 million was transferred to Korkmaz’s Turkey-based company SBK Holding and other third-party accounts, making the total amount of money involved in the fraud in excess of $470 million. Following the Kingston brothers’ guilty plea earlier this year, Korkmaz’s assets were seized by the Turkish authorities in October before a court order reversed the decision.

Despite a travel ban also being imposed upon Korkmaz, he has reportedly fled Turkey with seven of the other suspects. According to DHA News Agency, however, his home in Istanbul was raided by police, with investigators discovering the remains of a phone in a fireplace, as well as servers belonging to SBK Holding.

READ: Turkey must step up measures against money laundering, watchdog says