Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab allegedly given new identity in US as 'Aaron Goldsmith'

Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab has been given a new identity under the name of "Aaron Goldsmith" in the United States, according to a news report. Zarrab has founded a horse training facility in Florida and been running it, said the report by online news outlet “Tr724,” which is known for its close ties to the Gülen network.

Friday October 22 2021 05:10 pm

Duvar English

The whereabouts of Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab has been allegedly exposed, as the online news outlet “Tr724,” which is known for its close ties to the Gülen network, reported that he was given a new identity by the name of “Aaron Goldsmith.”

According to the report, Zarrab founded a horse training facility under the name of “Next Level Performance Center” in the U.S. state of Florida and changed his identity.

A website named PS Dressage prepared an article promoting Next Level Performance Center, which was founded on June 19, 2021, according to a search undertaken by Turkish daily Sözcü.

The PS Dressage's article includes the statements of a former horse trainer named Madeleine Bendfeldt who has worked with "Aaron Goldsmith," Sözcü said. “I came over to Aaron Goldsmith two months ago to work with Sonata in Germany. I am very grateful for the efforts of Carolina Roffman,” Bendfelt reportedly says in the article.

Zarrab, who is named “Goldsmith” in the article, was quoted as saying: “I have been in this sector for almost 20 years and I have been working on jumping in general and now we have started to focus on the dressage. Thank God I have a very good team behind me.”

Zarrab was arrested in Mimami in 2016 and charged with laundering billions of dollars in a big sanctions-evasion scheme. After he cooperated with the U.S. government and became a witness, he was offered leniency.

Zarrab's testimony helped the United States convict Mehmet Hakan Atilla, a former manager at Turkey’s state-run Halkbank, over charges related to conspiracy and bank fraud including violating sanctions on Iran.

Topics Reza Zarrab Zarrab Turkey Next Level Performance Center