US to seek extradition of Turkish man over money laundering, fraud charges

WASHINGTON

The US will seek to extradite a Turkish businessman so he can appear before a court to face charges of money laundering, the Justice Department said Monday.

Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was arrested in Austria on June 19 and was indicted on "one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding," said a release by the department.

"According to the superseding indictment, Korkmaz 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," said the statement.

The US wants Korkmaz to appear before US District Judge Jill Parrish of the District of Utah to face the charges.

"If convicted, Korkmaz faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the money laundering conspiracy count, 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud counts, and five years in prison for the obstruction count," the statement added.

Judge Parrish will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, said the department.