Austria accepts US extradition request for shady business tycoon Korkmaz
An Austrian court has accepted the United States' request to extradite shady business tycoon Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, Deutsche Welle's Turkish service reported on Jan. 17. The Austrian authorities are also evaluating Turkey's request for extradition and will give their final decision in February, according to the report.
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An Austrian court has accepted the United States' request to extradite shady business tycoon Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, Deutsche Welle's (DW) Turkish service reported on Jan. 17.
The Austrian court had also accepted Turkey's request to extradite Kormaz in August 2021.
Therefore, the Austrian Justice Ministry will decide which country Korkmaz will be extradited to in the upcoming days. The ministry is decided to give this decision in the first week of February, DW said.
Turkey and the United States are in a fight for the extradition of Korkmaz, who is being investigated for money laundering charges.
Korkmaz was detained in June 2021 in a town about 260 km from Vienna and both Turkey and the United States had initiated an extradition process with Austrian authorities.
In December 2020, authorities detained 10 executives working at Korkmaz's companies, after Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) said the companies were used for money laundering.
The United States accuses Korkmaz of laundering more than $133 million in tax fraud proceeds through a network of businesses he controls in Turkey. Prosecutors in Turkey want him in connection with the same alleged scheme.
Convicted Turkish crime boss Sedat Peker previously accused Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu of tipping off Korkmaz to the criminal investigation against him. Peker made the claim as a part of a series of widely viewed YouTube videos recorded from a hotel room in Dubai in which he has made unverified allegations of corruption against top Turkish officials.