Istanbul's Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has reached a new stage in its sweeping money laundering investigation. Following the completion of hearings before the peace criminal judgeship for 15 detained suspects, the court ordered the arrest of Sofu Altınbaş, Ramazan Argün and İbrahim Avcı.
Other suspects were placed under various judicial control measures. Eyüp Birgün, Oktay Özkan, Erhan Naci İşözen, Mehmet Aygün and Temel Aygün were banned from leaving their residences, while Seyfettin Tayfun Kahyaoğlu, Eyüp Ensar Saral, Hulki Şavkin, Turgut Alkan, Kenan Malkoç and Selami Cengiz were barred from travelling abroad. Suspect Serkan Korkutata was released following his testimony at the prosecutor's office.
According to a statement previously issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the investigation was launched following a complaint by German nationals identified as K.P. and M.B. The complainants alleged that contracts worth 80 million euros were signed, transfers totalling 100 million euros were made, a fund of 1 billion euros was promised to be moved abroad through credit by exploiting public influence, and a boat worth 1.5 million euros was sold. The core allegations centre on the laundering of large sums of money of unknown origin through companies established domestically and abroad.
In earlier phases of the investigation, numerous individuals including Ömer Sarıgül, Aylin Kotil, Volkan Aslanbaş, Cavidan Tanrah Artuner, Murat Ağırel and Emir Sarıgül were arrested, while Cemil Vasken Barın and Uğur Kurtulan were released under judicial supervision. In a separate operation, Çağlar Sezgin, Cihan Tunç and Ümit İlker Avcı were also arrested, and Beşir Ömer Demir and Atakan Eren were placed under a residence restriction order.
Allegations concerning Mustafa Sarıgül, a member of parliament during Turkey's 28th legislative term, were referred to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for separate handling. The investigation is ongoing.
