A Turkish gold trader jailed for allegedly violating the United States sanctions on Iran has added a former New York mayor and federal prosecutor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who is close to President Donald Trump to his legal team, the New York Times reported Monday.
The move, revealed in a court filing by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, raised questions of whether the jailed trader Reza Zarrab added Giuliani in an attempt to negotiate a beneficial resolution at the highest levels of the Trump administration, according to the report.
The U.S. attorney's office is advising the judge of the Zarrab's case of potential conflicts of interest, the report said.
Zarrab was arrested in March 2016 when he arrived on a trip to Miami. He has been charged with facilitating millions of dollars in illicit transactions on behalf of Iran through the use of front companies and false documentation.