Milas Mayor Topuz arrested on tender fraud charges

Milas Mayor Fevzi Topuz and his son Doruk Topuz were arrested as part of a tender fraud investigation conducted by the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. In an operation launched on October 20, simultaneous detention decisions were applied to 35 suspects across Muğla and in Adana, Ankara, Bursa, Elazığ, Hakkari, Istanbul, Gaziantep, Kilis, Kocaeli, Manisa, Van, and Ordu, with 22 of them referred to the courthouse; 13 gave statements from their respective provinces via SEGBİS videoconference. The court arrested 18 suspects, including Fevzi and Doruk Topuz, placed 2 suspects under house arrest, and issued judicial control orders for 15 suspects.

The investigation covers charges of forming a criminal organization, bribery, bid rigging, forgery of official documents, and qualified fraud. An expert examination determined that tender documents for 35 tenders belonging to 34 companies were forged, and that 33 business experience certificates belonging to 32 companies were approved by Milas Municipality.

Bank account numbers, tax identification numbers, and IBAN information were found to be shared by multiple companies; employee and salary information in SGK service statements overlapped; and amounts on bank statements did not match their written counterparts.

According to Public Procurement Authority data, 8 companies used these forged documents to participate in 25 public tenders with a total value of 3 billion 714 million 262 thousand 711 lira 18 kuruş. The total tender value of work shown as completed despite not being performed was calculated at 2 billion 579 million 555 thousand 355 lira. It was also determined that the same companies used these documents to make direct or indirect capital increases totaling 342 million 880 thousand lira.