Turkey’s Halkbank urges dismissal of U.S. indictment in Iran sanctions case

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Halkbank on Monday urged a U.S. judge to dismiss an indictment accusing the Turkish lender of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, saying it was immune from liability and that the applicable laws did not cover alleged misconduct outside the United States.

U.S. prosecutors had accused Halkbank of using money servicers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions, enabling revenue from oil and gas sales be spent on gold, and the facilitation of sham food and medicine purchases.

Halkbank pleaded not guilty on March 31 to fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)