Sezgin Baran Korkmaz

Sezgin Baran Korkmaz (1977 Digor, Kars) is a Turkish businessman and chairman of the SBK holding.[1] In June 2021, he was arrested in Austria on request of a court in the United States.[2]

Biography

According to his own account he was a shoe shiner in his childhood. He is known as a charitable figure in Turkey where he provided scholarships to students in Kars and also Syrian refugees.[1] He is also reported to be the owner of several companies in the energy sector and the pharmaceutical industry.[3] He was the founding majority shareholder of the Konak heat in 2009.[4] In 2016, the SBK holding partnered together with American Washakie Renewable Energy as the latter wanted to make investments in Turkey.[5] Through the SBK Holding he bought the airline Borajet in 2017 for 260 million dollars from Yalçin Ayasli.[6] The Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, used a Bombardier business jet from Borajet during the campaign for the Constitutional Referendum in 2017.[7] The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project reports that Korkmaz together with American businessmen was involved in an attempt to liberate the christian pastor Andrew Brunson from Turkish detention in October 2018.[8] He is also credited with having organized meetings with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his American business-partner now prosecuted in the USA.[8]

In late September 2020, a Court in Istanbul ordered the confiscation of the assets owned by Korkmaz in Turkey[4] together with a prohibition to leave the country.[9] On 17 November his assets however where released and he was allowed to travel again by a Turkish court.[4] Korkmaz left Turkey on the 5 December 2020[10] while ten executives of his companies were arrested on money laundering related charges.[11] According to the Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker Korkmaz was adverted of an eventual prosecution and arrest by the Interior Minister Soylu[12] and according to Duvar, he was able to sell several of his properties in Turkey before they were confiscated.[4] In late December 2020 an arrest warrant was released for him in Turkey on grounds of his financial partnership with executives of the Washakie Renewable Energy, who both pleaded guilty before a court in Utah.[13] In April 2021 it was reported that he was in Switzerland,[4] and on the 19 June 2021 he was arrested by the Austrian authorities for money laundering[14] over the sum of $133 Million, which he re-invested in the purchase of properties in Switzerland and Turkey, the Turkish airline Borajet, and a yacht called Queen Anne.[2] The United States have demanded his extradition from Austria on a request of judge Jill Parrish of the District Court of Utah.[2] After Austria approved the extradition to both Turkey[15] and the USA,[16] in July 2022 the latter was preferred as in the USA the crimes were initially detected and the potential victims were primarily residing in that country.[17]

On July 15, 2022, Korkmaz was extradited from Austria to the United States to face money laundering and wire fraud charges.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b "Sezgin Baran Korkmaz Kimdir ? - Sezgin Baran Korkmaz Hayatı ve Biyografisi". www.haberler.com. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  2. ^ a b c "Turkish Businessman Arrested in Austria on Charges that He Allegedly Laundered Over $133 Million in Fraud Proceeds". www.justice.gov. 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  3. ^ "Sezgin Baran Korkmaz kimdir, nerelidir? Kaç Yaşında? Nerede Yaşıyor? SBK Şirketleri". Mardin Life (in Turkish). Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  4. ^ a b c d e Özgür, Bahadir (2021-05-18). "SBK saga: Perfect example of how money gets laundered in Turkey". Gazete Duvar. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  5. ^ Can, Metin (2016-09-10). "US-based fund to invest $900M in total in Turkey". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  6. ^ "Neue Eigentümer für türkische Borajet". aeroTELEGRAPH (in Swiss High German). 2017-01-03. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  7. ^ "Soylu used luxury plane belonging to shady businessman Korkmaz, Interior Ministry confirms". Gazete Duvar. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  8. ^ a b Belford, Aubdrey. "Turkish Tycoon, Trump Fundraiser and Ex-CIA Chief Involved in 2018 Attempt to Free U.S. Pastor Held in Turkey". Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  9. ^ "A comprehensive roundup of the Sezgin Baran Korkmaz file". Ahval. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  10. ^ "Turkey wants extradition of businessperson detained in Austria for fraud charges in US". Bianet. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  11. ^ Pamuk, Humeyra (2021-06-21). "U.S. seeks to extradite Turkish businessman over fraud charges". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  12. ^ "Access block to Sedat Peker's 9 tweets". Bianet. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  13. ^ "Turkey issues arrest warrant for businessman tied to US money laundering". Middle East Monitor. 2020-12-30. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  14. ^ "Fugitive businessman Korkmaz arrested in Austria - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. 20 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
  15. ^ "Request for businessperson Sezgin Baran Korkmaz's extradition to Turkey accepted". Bianet. 31 August 2021.
  16. ^ English, Duvar (2022-01-18). "Austria accepts US extradition request for shady business tycoon Korkmaz". Gazete Duvar (in Turkish). Retrieved 2022-02-06.
  17. ^ "Austria to extradite Turkish business tycoon Korkmaz to US on July 15". Gazete Duvar (in Turkish). 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
  18. ^ "Turkish Businessman Extradited from Austria to Face Money Laundering and Wire Fraud Charges". July 15, 2022.
  19. ^ Singh, Kanishka (July 15, 2022). "UPDATE 1-Turkish businessman extradited to U.S. to face laundering, fraud charges". Yahoo! News. Turkish businessman Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was extradited from Austria and arrived on Friday in Utah to face money laundering and wire fraud charges, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.