Money Laundering

US sanctions Turkish bank over alleged IRGC ties, accusing it of facilitating millions in transactions for Iran.

The United States Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on a Turkish bank and its subsidiaries over alleged ties to Iran, as Washington seeks to economically isolate Tehran.

The Treasury Department accused Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi (Golden Global Bank) on Friday of facilitating “tens of millions of dollars’ worth of transactions for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force” and providing the Iranian government with banking access to move its funds internationally.

Washington alleged the bank “was established for the purpose of enabling Iran’s rahbar network [shadow banking system] to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey” using gold and cash.

Golden Global Bank responded on Friday, saying it fulfilled all local and international banking compliance rules and would take legal action against the US-imposed sanctions.

There are no transactions conducted by Golden Global Bank that could substantiate the claims made by the US, the bank said in a news release.

“We will exercise all our rights of objection and legal recourse in the most effective manner and will take the necessary actions at the earliest against these allegations and the decision,” the Turkish bank added.

“Financial institutions continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement published by the department on Friday.

The sanctions place the bank and its two subsidiaries on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)’s Specially Designated Nationals list, cutting off access to the US financial system.

The bank said individuals and entities named in the OFAC decision “have never been and are not currently customers” of Golden Global.

US Ambassador to Turkiye Tom Barrack said on Saturday that it would be a mistake for Turkish officials “to read [the US’s] narrow measure as a judgement upon Turkiye”.

“The health of the Turkish financial system is not in question; the conduct of one institution was,” Barrack said on X.

Last week, the US took steps towards severing the UAE operations of Egypt’s second-largest bank from financial access after accusing it of processing transactions for companies linked to Iran’s shadow-banking system.

Bessent said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a G20 summit that Washington would likely announce a bank sanction this week and another next week, as it ramps up its economic campaign against Tehran.

Authorities say they broke up one of the largest criminal networks running migrant smuggling in the Western Mediterranean.

Spanish authorities, working with Europol and police in France, Portugal and Poland, have dismantled what they say is one of the largest criminal networks for migrant smuggling, illegal drugs and weapons trafficking across the Western Mediterranean.

Launched by Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police in 2023, the operation culminated in an “action day” on June 16, Europol said on Friday, leading to 78 arrests and the seizure of assets, including 18 high-speed boats.

Officials described the crossings as extremely dangerous, with migrants crammed into overcrowded boats travelling at high speed through rough seas, often without lighting or life jackets.

Authorities said passengers were sometimes tied down to keep them from falling overboard, and that the organisation used extraordinary violence against migrants, its own members and police.

The operation “successfully dismantled one of the ⁠most complex, active and dangerous transnational criminal networks detected to date in the Mediterranean,” Spain’s Civil Guard said in a statement.

Of those detained, 77 were arrested in Spain and one in Algeria, including three high-value targets. Most were Algerian nationals with ties to criminal groups in France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Poland.

As part of the operation, 17 locations were searched in Spain, including in Alicante, Almeria, Cartagena and Murcia.

The announcement on Friday comes a week after a mass migrant surge into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta drew international attention to migration pressures in the region.

The criminal network, described as operating like a logistics company for organised crime groups, managed two-way maritime smuggling routes between Europe and Algeria, according to Europol.

The network allegedly moved synthetic drugs southward and migrants northward to Spain’s southeastern coast and the island of Ibiza.

Investigators say the network carried out at least 64 migrant-smuggling operations, bringing more than 2,000 people into Spain and generating over €24 million ($27m) in profits, charging as much as €12,000 ($13,800) per migrant and packing up to 50 people onto a single boat.

Authorities also found that the network provided a wide range of services to other criminal organisations, including vessel storage, transportation, refuelling, maritime transfers, boat maintenance and counter-surveillance.

The network reportedly moved money through informal hawala networks, making it difficult for investigators to trace illicit funds.