Sezgin Baran Korkmaz (1977 Digor,

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

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

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on request of a court in the

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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 Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

s to students in Kars and also

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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 () 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 founded in 2008 by Yalcin ...

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. He previously served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security from November 2015 to August 2016 and the Minis ...

, 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 journalism, investigative journalists. 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. Before becoming a lecturer in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, he was the evangelical pastor of a Protestant church with a congregation of 24 people in İzmir, Turkey. B ...

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

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Recep is a Turkish name deriving from the Arabic name Rajab. It may refer to: People Surname * Aziz Recep (born 1992), German-Greek footballer * Sibel Recep (born 1987), Swedish pop singer Given name * Recep Adanır (1929–2017), Turkish fo ...

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

Legal prosecution

In late September 2020, a Court in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

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 () is the general term for criminal organizations based in Turkey and/or composed of current or former Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout Western Europe (where a strong Turkish immigrant comm ...

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 Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, 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 People extradited from Austria Turkish people imprisoned in the United States