US Drops Bid to Toughen Sentence for Turkish Banker Hakan Atilla

Source:Courthouse News Service Date:09Dec2018

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long lobbied the Trump administration for Atilla’s release in a case connected to a December 2013 corruption scandal threatening his family, ruling party and state banks.

Atilla, a former manager of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, was convicted in January of this year for his role in helping funnel billions to Iran through a gas-for-gold trade and fake humanitarian food shipments.