Gold Trader’s Arrest in Miami Could Put Erdogan Under Spotlight

March 23, 2016
Reza Zarrab is surrounded by journalists at a police station in Istanbul in December 2013, in an inquiry that led to the resignation of three cabinet ministers. (Source: Getty Images)

Reza Zarrab is surrounded by journalists at a police station in Istanbul in December 2013, in an inquiry that led to the resignation of three cabinet ministers. (Source: Getty Images)

LONDON(The Independent) ”” A Turkish gold trader at the center of a corruption scandal that engulfed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been arrested in Miami and charged with laundering millions of dollars.

Riza Zarrab, also known by the name Riza Sarraf, was accused in 2013 of bribing senior ministers from Turkey’s ruling party with cash and lavish gifts as part of a scheme to bypass US sanctions on Iran.

On Saturday, the 33-year-old was arrested while on holiday in Florida with his wife and daughter. The arrest was made public late on Monday night when US prosecutors unsealed an indictment that charged him with fraud, money-laundering and sanctions-busting.

The arrest threatens to reopen a case that reached right into Erdogan’s inner circle and to tarnish the party that he founded. It will also deepen existing tensions between Turkey and the United States. The US attorney in charge of prosecuting the case, Preet Bharara, became an overnight sensation after tweeting that Zarrab would “soon face American justice in a Manhattan courtroom.”

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