550 million in loans granted! 'Halkbank' detail in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation

A new development has emerged in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan case, which has dominated Turkey's agenda. 

BirGün columnist Timur Soykan claimed that the report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) for the Ayhan Bora Kaplan investigation examined Kaplan's money laundering system, scrutinized 50 companies, and alleged that Halkbank had provided loans to these companies. 

Soykan stated, "The MASAK report, which details how citizens' money was handed over to the mafia, requested that the BRSA (BDDK) initiate an investigation. However, the report did not contain information regarding loans provided to companies linked to the gang by other banks." 

"150 MILLION LIRA LOAN IN A SINGLE TRANSACTION"

The relevant section from Soykan's article is as follows:

"In the MASAK report, a table illustrates how Halkbank showered this company with loans. 25 loans were granted between 2021 and 2022. The total amount of loans given to the mafia's company from a public bank, that is, the people's bank, is: 480 million 515 thousand TL.

Halkbank granted a 150 million TL loan in a single transaction on June 1, 2022, to Ayyıldız Tünel A.Ş., where the mafia's dirty money was laundered.

"COMPANY VALUE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANALYZED"

Moreover, Ayyıldız Tünel A.Ş. pledged the shares of De Solar 7 Limited Company as collateral for this loan.

While preparing its report on Ayhan Bora Kaplan, MASAK requested the valuation report of the De Solar 7 company, whose shares were taken as collateral when the 150 million TL loan was granted by Halkbank. Naturally, a bank should have analyzed the value of the company pledged as collateral for a loan beforehand. However, Halkbank did not even prepare a company valuation report while giving the citizens' money to the mafia. Only a superficial report regarding the company's equipment and devices, which were worth far, far less than 150 million TL, was placed in the loan file."