Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Seeks Arrest of Hakan Gövdere and Rıza Kandemir

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office has requested the arrest of Tera executive Hakan Gövdere and Ral Yatırım Holding Founder Partner and Board Chairman Rıza Kandemir in connection with a fund investigation being conducted on allegations of market manipulation in capital markets. NTV reported.

Gövdere, Tera Yatırım Finans Grup Director Elif Özüş, Tera Holding Board Chairman Assistant Elif Değerli, and Kandemir were previously detained. The suspects were referred to the courthouse following police statements; the prosecutor sent Gövdere and Kandemir to Peace Criminal Court with an arrest request, and referred Değerli and Özüş with a request for judicial supervision.

The investigation has expanded in stages since August. On September 17, 2024, the Capital Markets Board (SPK) decided to liquidate 131 funds belonging to Pusula, Tera, and affiliated companies, affecting more than 455,000 investors. Between September 18-22, five people were arrested while 51 suspects were banned from leaving the country. On September 24, two private jets and a yacht valued at approximately 1.8 billion TL were seized by court order. On September 25, the SPK announced conditions for benefiting from effective remorse in market fraud cases; it was announced that those wishing to benefit from the regulation must pay an amount equal to at least twice the profit they obtained or caused, with a minimum of 500,000 liras.

On September 26, Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, Deputy Chair of the AK Party (MKYK and MYK member) and former Minister of Family and Social Policy, resigned by requesting a pardon from her position. It was alleged that Kaya and her husband İlyas Kaya invested 163 million TL in shares of a company before the fund investigations, and by selling these shares just before the stock market liquidity crisis and fund collapse (between April-September 2024), they gained 2.17 billion TL in illicit profits. The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office requested precautionary measures on the couple's assets within the scope of the investigation; the couple went to the courthouse to give a statement and denied the allegations, stating they did not receive any special information or guidance.