Turkish Trader Extradited To Face $1-B Biofuel Tax Credit Fraud

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed on 16 July 2022 that a Turkish businessman was extradited from Austria to Utah to face money laundering, wire fraud, and obstruction charges.

Photo Insert: Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was charged with laundering over $133 million in unlawful revenues through bank accounts in Turkey and Luxembourg.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, Sezgin Baran Korkmaz was charged with laundering over $133 million in unlawful revenues through bank accounts in Turkey and Luxembourg.

According to a superseding indictment issued in April 2021, the proceeds stem from a scheme devised by Jacob Kingston, Isaiah Kingston, and Levon Termendzhyan in Plymouth, Utah, to defraud the US Treasury by submitting false claims for more than $1 billion in tax credits for the production and sale of biodiesel by their company, Washakie Renewable Energy LLC.

Korkmaz and his co-conspirators allegedly used the funds from the biofuel fraud to purchase luxurious houses and assets, as well as enterprises including Biofarma, the Turkish airline Borajet, a boat dubbed the Queen Anne, a hotel in Turkey, and a villa and apartment on the Bosporus river in Istanbul.

The US Marshals Service seized the Queen Anne in July 2021 and sold it on October the same year for $10.11 million under an order issued by US District Judge Jill Parrish of the US District Court for the District of Utah, who is presiding over the Korkmaz case. Other Korkmaz enterprises' assets in Turkey and Europe are subject to forfeiture claims by the United States and Turkey.

In early 2018, Korkmaz also concocted a plot to mislead Jacob Kingston and Isaiah Kingston by falsely claiming he could protect them from a federal grand jury inquiry and civil lawsuits.

The Kingstons sent him $6 million in exchange. Korkmaz allegedly attempted to impede the trial of the Kingstons and Termendzhyan by making false statements to federal authorities. Korkmaz allegedly misled about $38 million in wire payments routed to Termendzhyan's bank account.

For each count of money laundering conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of an official proceeding, Korkmaz faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if found guilty.

WEEKLY FEATURE : MVP Group Keeps Lights On During Pandemic