Page:Türkiye Halk Bankasi A.Ş. v. United States.pdf/4

Rh

delivered the opinion of the Court.

The United States indicted Halkbank, a bank owned by the Republic of Turkey, for conspiring to evade U. S. economic sanctions against Iran. The United States brought the prosecution in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Halkbank contends that the indictment should be dismissed because the general federal criminal jurisdiction statute, 18 U. S. C. §3231, does not extend to prosecutions of instrumentalities of foreign states such as Halkbank. Halkbank alternatively argues that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 provides instrumentalities of foreign states with absolute immunity from criminal prosecution in U. S. courts.

We disagree with Halkbank on both points. We hold that the District Court has jurisdiction under 18 U. S. C. §3231 over the prosecution of Halkbank. We further hold that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not provide immunity from criminal prosecution. With respect to an additional common-law immunity argument raised by Halkbank, we vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand.