A Turkish bank, which has come under fire for being involved in gold sales that dodge international sanctions on Iranian regime, said Monday it has replaced its chief who reportedly stashed $4.5 million in shoe boxes and has been charged in a corruption probe that has shaken the government in Turkey.
State-owned Halkbank said Suleyman Aslan was replaced by Ali Fuat Taskesenlioglu as of Friday.
The transfer of gold and money to Iranian regime via Halkbank is under scrutiny as part of the corruption investigation launched on Dec. 17, charging Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab with forming a ring that bribed officials, including Halkbank chief executive Süleyman Aslan, to help disguise illegal gold sales.
Questions about Zarrab – also a Turkish citizen who has since been arrested in an ongoing $113 billion corruption probe – have now been raised in the Turkish parliament by Umut Oran, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
He asked in a written parliamentary question to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan whether a report by Turkey’s MI.T intelligence service that Zarrab had sent $1.5 million for the assassination plot was correct.
Oran also demanded to know whether Zarrab was a member of Iranian regime’s Quds Force working for the regime in Tehran.
He asked: “Is Reza Zarrab, who it is claimed sent money to this person, a member of the Iranian intelligence or military units. Have you received any information of this type?”
Oran also noted that the MI.T report dated October 21, 2011, said the FBI had been aware of the $1.5 million money transfer to Arbabsiar for the murder plot.
