Turkey: 3 remanded in probe of businessman Sarraf

ISTANBUL

Turkish courts on Friday remanded in custody three people as part of the investigation of businessman Riza Sarraf, according to police sources.

The suspects were among 17 who had been arrested earlier in December, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspects -- identified as Sinem A., Regaip A., and Mustafa H. -- were working with Sarraf and allegedly sent documents to the U.S. about the legal proceedings concerning him there.

Fourteen others were released under judicial control.

Sarraf last month accepted all the U.S. charges against him and agreed to cooperate as a witness against Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the former deputy CEO of Turkey’s state-run lender Halkbank.

Sarraf was detained last year in New York on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, while Atilla was arrested in the U.S. earlier this year on similar charges.

Reporting by Murat Kaya and Muhammed Enes Can: Writing by Sibel Ugurlu

ISTANBUL

Turkish courts on Friday remanded in custody three people as part of the investigation of businessman Riza Sarraf, according to police sources.

The suspects were among 17 who had been arrested earlier in December, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspects -- identified as Sinem A., Regaip A., and Mustafa H. -- were working with Sarraf and allegedly sent documents to the U.S. about the legal proceedings concerning him there.

Fourteen others were released under judicial control.

Sarraf last month accepted all the U.S. charges against him and agreed to cooperate as a witness against Mehmet Hakan Atilla, the former deputy CEO of Turkey’s state-run lender Halkbank.

Sarraf was detained last year in New York on charges of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, while Atilla was arrested in the U.S. earlier this year on similar charges.

Reporting by Murat Kaya and Muhammed Enes Can: Writing by Sibel Ugurlu