Istanbul police detain 17 in Reza Zarrab probe

ISTANBUL

Police in Istanbul detained a total of 17 suspects on Dec. 5 as part of an investigation into Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who testified at the trial of former Halkbank executive Hakan Atilla in the U.S. over evading sanctions on Iran.

Zarrab was arrested in the U.S. last year but became the prosecution’s top witness in the trial, as now Atilla is the sole man on the dock accused of violating sanctions, bribery and money laundering.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 1 ordered the seizure of assets belonging to Zarrab and his acquaintances.