Supreme Court rejects Turkish bank’s arguments in Iran case

Headline Legal News

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Turkish bank’s main arguments for dismissing a lawsuit accusing it of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, but the court sent the case back for additional review.

Halkbank, a bank owned by Turkey, had argued that a federal law, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, gave foreign states absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in U.S. courts. It also said federal courts don’t have jurisdiction to oversee the case.

“We disagree with Halkbank on both points,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote for himself and six of his eight colleagues.

Still, Kavanaugh said the case should go back to a lower court for further review. He said the lower court “did not fully consider the various arguments regarding common-law immunity that the parties press in this Court.”

The federal government says the bank “participated in the largest-known conspiracy to evade the United States’ economic sanctions on Iran,” laundering billions of dollars worth of Iranian oil and natural gas proceeds. The government says that working with an Iranian-Turkish businessman, the bank created ways for Iran to access the funds — including shipments of gold and fake food shipments. The government says that the schemes “freed up approximately $20 billion of restricted Iranian funds.”

The businessman, Reza Zarrab, has pleaded guilty.

The case was initiated under the Trump administration but was continued by the Biden administration.

The case is Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States, 21-1450.

Related listings

  • Supreme Court asked to preserve abortion pill access rules

    Supreme Court asked to preserve abortion pill access rules

    Headline Legal News 04/11/2023

    The Biden administration and a drug manufacturer asked the Supreme Court on Friday to preserve access to an abortion drug free from restrictions imposed by lower court rulings, while a legal fight continues.The Justice Department and Danco Laboratori...

  • Add value to your neglected assets - Life Insurance Policy Review

    Add value to your neglected assets - Life Insurance Policy Review

    Headline Legal News 04/06/2023

    <p>During a <a href="https://hanulinsurance.com/life-insurance-policy-review">life insurance policy review</a>, you should look at your current coverage and beneficiaries and decide if any adjustments should be made. A Life Insuranc...

  • After Nashville, Congress confronts limits of new gun law

    After Nashville, Congress confronts limits of new gun law

    Headline Legal News 04/03/2023

    Nine months ago, President Joe Biden signed a sweeping bipartisan gun law, the most significant legislative response to gun violence in decades.“Lives will be saved,” he said at the White House.The law has already prevented some potential...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers Since 1962, the law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read