Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Business
Economics

U.S. Seeks at Least 15 Years for Banker in Sanctions Case

  • Halkbank’s Atilla could have faced 105-year prison term
  • Government also asks judge to set fine of $50,000 to $500,000
In this court room sketch, defendant, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, center, listens to proceedings from the defense table, in New York, on Nov. 28, 2017. 

In this court room sketch, defendant, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, center, listens to proceedings from the defense table, in New York, on Nov. 28, 2017. 

Source: Elizabeth Williams/AP Photo

Updated on

U.S. prosecutors are seeking a sentence of more than 15 years for a Turkish banker convicted of aiding a money-laundering scheme that enabled Iran to evade U.S. sanctions on billions of dollars in oil revenue.

The lengthy sentence is dictated in part by the amount of money involved and in part by the stiff minimum sentences for crimes involving money laundering. In an earlier filing, lawyers for the banker, Mehmet Hakan Atilla, said their client could face life in prison but asked the judge for leniency, saying he should serve less than five years.