Turkish businessman's Iran sanctions guilty plea opens door to cooperation in Robert Mueller's Micha
Source: Independent
"Turkish businessman's Iran sanctions guilty plea opens door to cooperation in Robert Mueller's Michael Flynn investigation"
A Turkish businessman whose name has been mentioned in relation to Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election has pleaded guilty to conspiring to evade US sanctions on Iran, and plans on testifying against his co-defendant.
The guilty plea by Reza Zarrab could have implications for former national security adviser Michael Flynn if his cooperation with federal authorities also involves Mr Mueller’s investigation. Mr Mueller is said to be scrutinising Mr Flynn's lobbying work in Turkey, while Mr Zarrab’s release was allegedly one of two issues that Turkish officials brought up with Mr Flynn during a meeting last December, when Donald Trump’s team was working on his transition to the White House.
Speculation has been fuelled about potential cooperation between Mr Zarrab and Mr Mueller’s investigation because it appears unlikely that Mr Mueller's probe would worry about securing Mr Zarrab’s help over the trial of alleged co-conspirator Mehmet Atilla, who is comparatively lower profile.
Mr Zarrab will describe a multibillion-dollar international money laundering scheme “from the inside,” Assistant US Attorney David Denton said during his opening statement in the New York federal court trial of Mr Atilla, the deputy general manager of Turkey's Halkbank .
Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/michael-flynn-reza-zarrab-trump-investigation-mueller-turkey-businessman-a8080671.html