29.2 Million Pounds Frozen at Barclays: Turhan Investigation Extends to UK

At the request of Istanbul's Chief Prosecutor's Office Financial Crimes and Money Laundering Investigation Bureau, British judicial authorities froze two accounts at Barclays Bank PLC. Transaction authority over 9 million pounds in the PSL Asset Management Limited account and 20 million 236 thousand 285.34 pounds in the PSL Capital Limited account — totaling 29 million 236 thousand 285.34 pounds — was revoked; transfers to third parties were also blocked.

FATF examinations determined that detained suspect Serdar Turhan transferred a total of 2.55 billion TL to PSL Asset Management Limited through five separate transactions between July 10 and August 17, 2025. The transfer descriptions were found to contain the notation "Capital Injection." It was established that Pusula Finans Holding A.Ş. is the sole shareholder of both companies and that they operate at the address 7th Floor 50 Broadway London SW1H 0DB.

In earlier investigations, it was determined that Turhan transferred 1 billion 198 million TL through Switzerland-linked accounts between August 24 and September 1, 2025, while the other suspect Muhammed Yarız transferred 2 billion 889 million TL during the same period; the total suspicious fund movement by the two suspects through Switzerland reached 4 billion 87 million TL.

According to CMB inspection reports, the prices of KTLEV, GUNDG, DSTKF, TRHOL, and TEHOL shares trading on the Borsa Istanbul equities market were artificially inflated by up to 100 times in a short period. The size of funds managed by Pusula Portfolio Management A.Ş. increased from 30 million TL to 500 billion TL; it was determined that only the KTLEV manipulation generated 72.5 billion TL in illicit gains. It was also established that 1.35 billion TL in losses occurred in the funds due to Turhan transferring his personal investments to the funds at inflated prices, and that the funds were closed to TEFAS transactions. The process for the return of criminal proceeds to Turkish judicial authorities has been initiated.