US dropped charges against Turkey’s Halkbank in Hamas hostage deal, court documents show
Washington has dropped a multibillion dollar case against Turkish state lender Halkbank for violating sanctions against Iran after Ankara helped secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in 2025.
The revelations were made in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York court filings reviewed by Middle East Eye on Wednesday.
In 2019, US prosecutors charged Halkbank with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions through money service providers and front companies in Iran, Turkey and the UAE.
Prosecutors said the bank secretly transferred $20bn in restricted funds, converted oil revenue into gold and cash for the benefit of Iranian interests, and documented fake food shipments to justify transfers of oil proceeds.
Court filings reveal that US Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan agreed to sign a deferred prosecution agreement with Halkbank, under which the charges would be dropped in exchange for reforms at the bank.
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In an official statement, the bank said it would not pay any judicial or administrative fines.
The move is another indication of the strong rapport between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Trump, who, according to sources, promised in September to resolve the issue amicably.
Court documentation and US official documents suggest the settlement was directly tied to diplomatic talks between Turkey and the United States over the Gaza war.
A court document dated 6 March 2026, and signed by US Attorney Clayton, said that Trump, along with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, had engaged in complex multilateral efforts, including with Turkey, to arrange a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
“The national security and foreign policy interests furthered by the Agreement are unique and extraordinary: the Agreement is an important component of multilateral international efforts to secure the release of dozens of living hostages and hostage remains, as well as to achieve the cessation of military hostilities resulting from the October 7, 2023, terror attacks that had been ongoing for two years,” the document said.
It added that a US commitment to resolving the Halkbank matter on mutually agreeable terms was an important part of those diplomatic discussions aimed at obtaining the release of all hostages.
“As has been publicly reported, those diplomatic discussions between the United States and the Republic of Turkiye led to assistance from Turkiye that was instrumental in the ceasefire agreement and Hamas’s commitment to release all remaining hostages,” the deferred prosecution agreement said.
The US District Court for the Southern District of New York is expected to approve the deal at a hearing this week.
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