Former jailed executive of Halkbank to lead Istanbul stock exchange

Duvar English

The former jailed executive at Turkey's state-owned Halkbank, Hakan Atilla, was named general manager at the Istanbul stock exchange, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak revealed on Oct. 21.

Atilla was sentenced to 32 months in a U.S. prison following his conviction for helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. He was released and returned to Turkey earlier this year. He had received a warm welcome from Minister Albayrak at the airport on the day of his return.

Atilla, who served as as deputy director-general at Turkish state lender Halkbank from 2011 to 2018, has a pending request to appeal his sentencing at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

At the time of Atilla's conviction, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan condemned the case as an attack on his government arguing it was "politically motivated”.

U.S. prosecutors last week charged Halkbank with partaking in a multibillion-dollar scheme to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran. The indictment alleges Halkbank conducted fraud, money laundering, and other sanctions offences. The charges disclosed by the prosecutors against Halkbank mirror those against Hakan Atilla.