Sentencing of Reza Zarrab
Reza Zarrab, a Turkish‑Iranian gold trader who acted as a cooperating witness in the U.S. criminal investigation into Turkish lender Halkbank’s alleged facilitation of Iran‑sanctions evasion, has been scheduled for sentencing on July 14, 2026 in Manhattan federal court, as indicated by court records filed on June 15, 2026.
Zarrab entered a guilty plea on October 26, 2017 to a charge of conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions, and his sentencing follows nearly nine years after that plea. During the 2017 New York trial, Zarrab testified against former Halkbank official Mehmet Hakan Atilla, who was subsequently convicted of assisting Iran in evading U.S. sanctions.
Halkbank Legal Proceedings
The United States separately indicted Halkbank in 2019 for similar sanctions‑evasion conduct; the bank has maintained a not‑guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman set Zarrab’s sentencing date while concurrently reviewing a request from U.S. prosecutors to dismiss the Halkbank case based on a settlement reached in March 2026. Under that agreement, Halkbank committed to bar any transactions that benefit Iran, among other compliance conditions. The announcement of the settlement caused Halkbank’s shares to rise on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.
Judge Berman placed a 90‑day pause on the Halkbank case to allow the bank to demonstrate adherence to the agreed‑upon restrictions. He has scheduled a June 17, 2026 hearing to consider the prosecutors’ motion to drop the charges against the bank.
Additional Context
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