Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab has pleaded guilty to unspecified charges in connection with an Iran sanctions busting scheme and is cooperating with U.S. prosecutors, officials said on Tuesday.
“I can confirm that the defendant has pleaded guilty,” said Nick Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Zarrab was arrested last year and charged with conducting hundreds of millions of dollars of business transactions on behalf of the Iranian government and other Iranian entities between 2010 and 2015.
Eights others, including a former Turkish economy minister, Mehmet Zafer Caglayan, and a former deputy general manager of Halkbank, one of Turkey's largest banks, Mehmet Atilla, have been indicted in the case.
All but Atilla remain at large. Atilla’s trial started on Monday with jury selection.
Zarrab has agreed to testify at Atilla's trial as part of his guilty plea. Biase said Zarrab’s testimony could come as early as Tuesday.
Zarrab was released from a federal detention facility to an undisclosed location on November 8, sparking speculation he was cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for leniency.
The case has become a flashpoint in increasingly strained relations between the U.S. and Turkey. Turkish officials have called the case politically motivated and demanded Zarrab's release.
Zarrab is alleged to have close ties to the governments of Turkey and Iran.
Sentencing has not been scheduled.
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