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Reza Zarrab says wife Dilara Altıntop wrongly linked to $8 billion fund claim
Miami-based businessman Reza Zarrab said his wife Dilara Altıntop was dragged into claims over an $8 billion transfer in Türkiye’s investment fund scandal because of a name similarity, and announced legal action.
Reza Zarrab, the Iranian-born businessman who lives in the United States, has denied that his wife Dilara Altıntop has any connection to an alleged $8 billion transfer raised in connection with Türkiye’s investment fund scandal, saying she was targeted because of a name similarity.
The claim in parliament
The issue surfaced after Cevdet Akay, a lawmaker from Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), alleged in parliament that digital assets worth $3 billion and $5 billion had been moved abroad through cold wallets in two transfers totaling $8 billion. Akay called for clarification on whether Altıntop had any link to the transfers.
“This amount means each of 17 million retirees could receive a bonus of 23,552 Turkish liras,” Akay said, stressing the scale of the sum. A report by Sözcü TV on the fund scandal also cited the name “Dilara Altıntop.”
“A simple identity check”
In a written statement on Sunday, Zarrab asked Akay directly whether the person he referred to was his wife. “If not, I expect you to correct this mistake immediately; if it is my wife, I expect you to back your claims with concrete information and documents,” he said.
“Neither I nor my wife has ever been involved in any stock market or fund activity. We have no commercial relationship or contact with the funds or anyone connected to them. My wife does not even have an active bank account in Türkiye,” Zarrab said.
Zarrab said his wife, who is six months pregnant, had been publicly targeted over a mistake that “a simple identity check” could have prevented. He demanded that Sözcü TV and others remove the reports and issue corrections, and said his lawyers would begin legal proceedings as of Monday.
There has been no official confirmation of any link between Altıntop and the alleged transfers, and no investigation into her has been announced.
Who is Reza Zarrab?
Zarrab became widely known in the United States after pleading guilty in 2017 to charges related to evading U.S. sanctions on Iran and testifying as a witness in the New York trial of a Halkbank executive. He is married to Dilara Altıntop, from Bursa, Türkiye; the couple held their wedding in Miami in January 2025.
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