Justice Minister Gürlek: Voluntary Repatriation Does Not Eliminate Legal Liability

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that voluntary repatriation of funds in fund investigations conducted by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office will not eliminate the legal liability of any individual or legal entity; he stated that additional asset seizure measures will be applied if new evidence is obtained.

According to the timeline, the Capital Markets Board on September 17 decided to liquidate 131 investment funds belonging to TERA, PUSULA, HEDEF, ATLAS, A1, PARDUS and BULLS PORTFÖY companies; the liquidation process to be carried out by İş Bankası and Ziraat Bankası will take six months. As of end of September, the number of people in custody in the Istanbul Prosecutor's investigation, including a former Central Bank deputy governor, had reached 85.

On September 26, it was alleged that former Family Minister and AKP Deputy Chairman Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya made 21 times profit through a fund, her husband İlyas Kaya made eight times profit, and the couple withdrew a total of 2 billion 170 million lira at the beginning of the month. Kaya resigned. On September 29, the chief prosecutor sent a memo to all relevant institutions for the freezing of the couple's assets; on October 6, following the Sayan Kaya couple's repatriation application, the chief prosecutor sent authorization letters to banks.

On September 30, Ali Emre Ballı, Chairman of the Board of Adil Katılım Bankası mentioned in the fund investigation, was found dead in his vehicle. On September 30, asset seizure measures were applied against 30 people including Mustafa Yazıcı, son of AKP member Hayati Yazıcı, along with Ballı; the decision was lifted the next day, on October 1.

Gürlek emphasized that the priority is ensuring the repatriated amounts reach the true beneficiaries: "The source, timing, amount of the repatriations and the manner in which they reach the true beneficiaries will be examined meticulously."