Turkey issues warrants against 417 in money laundering investigation

Istanbul (dpa) - Turkish prosecutors have issued detention warrants against 417 suspects in a money laundering investigation into the transfer of millions of lira worth of foreign currency to thousands of bank accounts abroad.The majority of the recipients were identified as Iranian nationals living in the United States, state news agency Anadolu reported on Tuesday, citing the Istanbul prosecutor‘s office.The suspects allegedly sent nearly 2.5 billion lira (415 million dollars) worth of foreign currency to 28,088 accounts abroad from January 1, 2017, onwards, Anadolu said.The money was transferred from bank branches and ATMs in sums of 5,000 lira and more, according to the prosecutor‘s statement.Istanbul police teams fanned out across 40 provinces and detained 280 people in raids on Tuesday, Anadolu reported. One hundred and three of the 417 people against whom warrants were issued, on charges of money laundering and terrorism financing among others, were Iranians, it said.The investigation is aimed at those who "targeted the economic and financial security" of Turkey, the prosecutor‘s office said.The lira has lost more than 40 per cent of its value against the dollar since the start of the year partly because of a diplomatic and trade row with the US over a number of issues, including the continued detention of Christian pastor Andrew Brunson in Turkey.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Turks to trust in god and change their dollars, euros and gold to lira in banks at home, as he has repeatedly spoken of a "economic war" against Turkey.