ref:topbtw-3389.html/ 13 Luglio 2022/A
Austria is set to extradite to the United States, fugitive Turkish businessman Sezgin Baran Korkmaz,
who is wanted on charges of laundering proceeds from a U.S. renewable-energy tax credit fraud, BBC Turkish reported
on Tuesday 12th.
The tycoon, who is also wanted by Turkey, will be extradited to the United States on July 15, BBC said,
citing an Austrian prosecutor.
Korkmaz was arrested in Austria in June of last year at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice
and stands accused of laundering more than $133 million in tax fraud proceeds through a network of businesses
in Turkey.
Turkish prosecutors want the 46-year-old on the same charges and launched extradition
proceedings against him at last year.
An Austrian court in August 2021 accepted an extradition request from Turkey for Korkmaz and another one from
the United States in March of this year.
Korkmaz is known for his years-long close ties to Turkey's ruling party and party allies, making his
extradition a very sensitive matter for Ankara.
In late 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an appealed to a local court to have his
photos with the businessman removed from online news outlets.
U.S. prosecutors accuse SBK of conspiring with individuals including U.S. businessmen Jacob
and Isaiah Kingston to launder the proceeds from a tax fraud scheme, buying Turkish airline Borajet,
hotels in Turkey and Switzerland, a yacht called the Queen Anne and a villa overlooking Istanbul's Bosporus
waterway.
Korkmaz denies the charges.
Korkmaz made headlines last year when Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker, in one of his nine hour-long tell-all videos
laying out allegations of corruption and criminal activity among government circles, accused Interior
Minister Süleyman Soylu of tipping the businessman off before raids seeking his arrest before he
fled Turkey in December of 2020.
( GAGRULE )
