Turkey officially seeks extradition of infamous tycoon from Austria

Turkey has officially sought the extradition of infamous business tycoon Sezgin Baran Korkmaz from Austria. Korkmaz is accused of money laundering both by Turkey and the U.S.

Wednesday June 30 2021 10:44 am

Duvar English

Turkey has officially sought the extradition of Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, a shady business tycoon who was arrested in Austria on June 19 upon a request by the United States.

The Justice Ministry has prepared a file for the shady figure's extradition and sent it to the court in Vienna through the Foreign Ministry.

The extradition file includes documents related to a court case, in which Korkmaz is accused of money laundering and fraud.

The United States is also seeking Korkmaz's extradition. Austrian authorities will look into both requests within two weeks.

In the hearing scheduled to be held two weeks later, Korkmaz will be asked to defend himself in the face of both countries' accusations. He will reportedly deny all accusations and demand his release. He will ask for his extradition to Turkey if his request is denied.

The businessman previously demanded his extradition to Turkey.

The U.S. Justice Department on June 21 said that the indictment accuses Korkmaz of having laundered over $133 million in fraud proceeds through bank accounts that he controlled in Turkey and Luxembourg.

"The proceeds allegedly related to a scheme by Jacob Kingston, Isaiah Kingston, and Levon Termendzhyan to defraud the U.S. Treasury by filing false claims for over $1 billion in refundable renewable fuel tax credits for the production and sale of biodiesel by their company, Washakie Renewable Energy LLC, in Plymouth, Utah," the U.S. Justice Department said.

Korkmaz and co-conspirators allegedly used the proceeds from the alleged scheme to buy the Turkish airline Borajet, hotels in Turkey and Switzerland, a yacht named the Queen Anne and a villa and an apartment on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, the statement said.