UPDATE: NBC News confirms Zarrab is cooperating with federal prosecutors:
A gold trader who is close to Turkish President Recep Erdogan is now cooperating with federal prosecutors in a money-laundering case, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter, and legal experts say prosecutors may be seeking information about any ties between the Turkish government and former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn.
Read more: Does cooperating witness have info on Flynn tie to Turkey? (NBC News)
As Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly is looking into former national security advisor Michael Flynn's role in a proposed $15 million kidnapping plot floated by Turkish officials, The Daily Beast reveals another player in that story -- Turkish businessman Reza Zarrab -- could be cooperating with authorities.
Zarrab currently is awaiting trial for his role in a multi-year gold trading scheme in violation of U.S. sanctions, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally has lobbied for his release:
Last month, lawyers for his co-defendant, bank manager Mehmet Atilla, remarked sardonically in court filings that Zarrab, the man at the root of the charges facing their client, had all but vanished, and it seemed “likely that Mr. Atilla will be the only defendant appearing at trial.”
The Bureau of Prisons website shows that Zarrab was released from BOP custody on Nov. 8.
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Zarrab has not filed any court documents in the last month. Zarrab and his attorney, Benjamin Brafman, were not at a pre-trial conference Thursday.
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“All I can tell you is that he is in federal custody,” Nick Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, told The Daily Beast.
Flynn's work for Turkish interests may have involved discussing a way to free Zarrab:
Four people familiar with the investigation said Mueller is looking into whether Flynn discussed in [a] late December [2016] meeting orchestrating the return to Turkey of a chief rival of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who lives in the U.S. Additionally, three people familiar with the probe said investigators are examining whether Flynn and other participants discussed a way to free a Turkish-Iranian gold trader, Reza Zarrab, who is jailed in the U.S. Zarrab is facing federal charges that he helped Iran skirt U.S. sanctions.
Mueller is specifically examining whether the deal, if successful, would have led to millions of dollars in secret payments to Flynn, according to three sources familiar with the investigation.
Full story: Did the Feds Flip Turkish Businessman Reza Zarrab—and Could He Bring Down Michael Flynn? (The Daily Beast)