A New York attorney rejected Thursday 50 million dollar bail request of the Iranian born Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab, who was arrested in the United States in March on charges of evading US sanctions for Iran.
New York Attorney Preet Bharara’s Office reportedly stated that bail request was rejected on the grounds that the amount offered for release is not sufficient.
A New York Times reporter, Benjamin Weiser, wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday that Zarrab’s lawyer offered the judge 10 million dollars total amount of the bail to be paid in cash. He also said that the lawyer said that the bail could come with the conditions such as for Zarrab to stay in a New York residence with 24-hour armed security and GPS monitoring.
According to Weiser, Zarrab’s lawyer asked the US judge Richard Berman for a court hearing to address the bail issue and said that similar bail conditions were used in recent case of Ng Lap Seng, Chinese billionaire who faces charges in New York. Zarrab’s lawyer also argued that his client would not run away if released on bail as his wife is a famous Turkish singer and Zarrab would not want to hurt his wife’s career.
Although Bharara’s office rejected the bail request, it is not yet certain whether US judge Richard Berman will accept Zarrab’s lawyer’s request to hold a court hearing to address the bail issue.
Zarrab, along with others, is accused of conspiring to make financial transactions for the Iranian government to evade US sanctions.
The businessman was previously detained in Turkey as part of a corruption investigation which implied several Turkish politicians and their sons in 2013. However he was released after then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the prosecutors and police officers who conducted the corruption investigation of trying to “topple the Turkish government.”