Sezgin Baran Korkmaz (1977 Digor,

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

) is a Turkish businessman and chairman of the SBK holding. In June 2021, he was arrested in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on request of a court in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

s to students in Kars and also

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

refugees. He is also reported to be the owner of several companies in the energy sector and the pharmaceutical industry. He was the founding majority shareholder of the Konak heat in 2009. In 2016, the SBK holding partnered together with American Washakie Renewable Energy as the latter wanted to make investments in Turkey. Through the SBK Holding he bought the airline

Borajet Borajet ( tr, Borajet Havayolları) was a privately owned Turkish airline based in Yeşilköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul operating domestic and international services. It suspended operations on 24 April 2017. History Early years The airline was fo ...

in 2017 for 260 million dollars from Yalçin Ayasli. The Turkish Interior Minister

Süleyman Soylu Süleyman Soylu (; born 21 November 1969) is a Turkish politician. He is a deputy chairman of the Justice and Development Party who currently serves as the Minister of the Interior since 31 August 2016. He previously served as the Minister of L ...

, used a Bombardier business jet from

during the campaign for the Constitutional Referendum in 2017. The

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of investigative journalists with staff on six continents. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...

reports that Korkmaz together with American businessmen was involved in an attempt to liberate the christian pastor

Andrew Brunson Andrew Craig Brunson (born January 3, 1968) is an American pastor and a teaching elder of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Brunson was an evangelical pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant church with about 24 congr ...

from Turkish detention in October 2018. He is also credited with having organized meetings with Turkish president

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (born 1929), Turkish footballer * Recep Akdağ (born 1960), Turkish physician and poli ...

for his American business-partner now prosecuted in the USA.

Legal prosecution

In late September 2020, a Court in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

ordered the confiscation of the assets owned by Korkmaz in Turkey together with a prohibition to leave the country. On 17 November his assets however where released and he was allowed to travel again by a Turkish court. Korkmaz left Turkey on the 5 December 2020 while ten executives of his companies were arrested on money laundering related charges. According to the

Turkish mafia Turkish mafia ( tr, Türk mafyası) is the general term for criminal organizations based in Turkey and/or composed of (former) Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout Western Europe (where a strong Turkish immi ...

boss

Sedat Peker Reis Sedat Peker (; born 26 June 1971) is a Turkish mafia boss and whistle-blower who has made various allegations about Turkish politicians and numerous government engagements in illegal activities through his own YouTube channel. He has describe ...

Korkmaz was adverted of an eventual prosecution and arrest by the Interior Minister Soylu and according to ''Duvar'', he was able to sell several of his properties in Turkey before they were confiscated. 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. In April 2021 it was reported that he was in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and on the 19 June 2021 he was arrested by the Austrian authorities for money laundering 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. The United States have demanded his extradition from Austria on a request of judge Jill Parrish of the District Court of Utah. After Austria approved the extradition to both Turkey and the USA, 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. On July 15, 2022, Korkmaz was extradited from Austria to the United States to face money laundering and wire fraud charges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Korkmaz, Sezgin Baran 1977 births People from Digor (District), Kars Turkish business executives Living people Prisoners and detainees of Austria Turkish people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of the United States