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ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish prosecutors have ordered the arrest of 417 suspects in connection with an investigation for money laundering on the transfer of about 2.5 billion lire (419) Millions of dollars) of foreign currency in bank accounts abroad, announced Tuesday the broadcaster CNN Turk.
The vast majority of the recipients of the funds were Iranian citizens residing in the United States, he added, citing a statement by the Attorney General of Istanbul.
Istanbul police teams raided several provinces, searched for property and arrested many people, the broadcaster said.
The state-owned Anadolu news agency said 216 suspects had been arrested during their operations in 40 provinces.
The police, prosecutor and other judicial authorities were not immediately available to comment on the report, which had been disseminated by other Turkish media.
The investigation targeted those who "targeted the economic and financial security of the Republic of Turkey," said the Attorney General's office in Istanbul, according to CNN Turk.
The issue of remittances has become politically sensitive in Turkey, which is in the grip of a currency crisis. The lira has dropped about 40% against the dollar this year, prompting President Tayyip Erdogan to warn the Turks against sending money abroad to his country. It was not an investment.
"We will not forgive those who resort to smuggling money abroad if they do not want to grow, develop and disseminate their business activities, their investments and their investments," said Erdogan in a speech delivered before business leaders in April.
There was no connection between the ongoing investigation and Erdogan's efforts to encourage the Turks to keep their money in Turkey.
The suspects were charged with money laundering, "forming a gang for the purpose of committing a crime" and "violating a law aimed at preventing the financing of terrorism", according to the press release. The operation was launched by the police of financial crimes.
The suspects were accused of receiving a commission for sending money out of 28,088 accounts abroad. The transfers were made from different bank branches and ATMs from 1 January 2017, for an amount of 5,000 lire and more, according to the statement.
The crackdown comes several months after a US court sentenced a leader of Turkish bank Halkbank to 32 months in prison in a case involving Iran's sanctions. The bank denied any wrongdoing and Turkey said the case was political in nature.
($ 1 = 5.9626 lire)
Daren Butler report; Edited by Ece Toksabay and Janet Lawrence
