Judge announces decisions in Bora Kaplan money laundering case: 6 defendants released

Müyesser YILDIZ 12punto.com.tr

The money laundering trial opened against Bora Kaplan, who is alleged to be a crime syndicate leader, continued.

Ankara 77th Criminal Court of First Instance heard the case involving 38 defendants, 12 of whom are in custody and 6 of whom are fugitives. Bora Kaplan, who submitted an excuse petition, did not attend today's session. In yesterday's session, after the defendants completed their defenses, the prosecutor presented their opinion, and the court moved on to receiving statements against this opinion.

''WE KNOW WHEN WE WILL TAKE YOU''

Hıncal Alper Tansu, who connected via SEGBİS from Bolvadin Prison, explained that high-profile people held their weddings at the venue named Günay Ankara, that his company was seized on October 14, 2023, and that they had worked hand-in-hand with the TMSF (Savings Deposit Insurance Fund) for 3 months to run the business, and said the following:

“We waited for the MASAK report. The report came out, and it contained very accurate and good findings. They even included my losses in games of chance. But our misfortune was that some social media posts were analyzed incorrectly. I prepared my file and tried to explain my situation to the KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department). I wore out the prosecutor's door. The prosecutor said, ‘You go, we know when we will take you.’ I prepared and waited. On March 4, my door was knocked on, and they took me to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace without taking me to the prosecutor. It was concluded that Günay Restaurant belonged to Bora Kaplan based on social media posts. I was arrested based on an opinion.”

Hıncal Alper Tansu also reacted to the prosecutor's opinion regarding the continuation of detention as follows:

“You took our reputation, our career, our freedom, our money. We have been explaining ourselves for three days. I don't know what the prosecutor sees us as; he says ‘continue detention’ in 22 seconds. Let him say, ‘This is your crime, explain it.’ My dear prosecutor, you have taken everything from us. People are sleeping on the floor in prison; it shouldn't be this easy with one word. I bought this place from Bora Kaplan with money, I paid for it. I did not launder his money. Let the prosecutor read it, for heaven's sake. You ruined us. You are throwing tradesmen into prison just to commit crimes.”

Hıncal Alper Tansu's lawyers, Muhammet Güney and Eren Turan, also criticized the MASAK report, the indictment, and the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, which accepted the indictment and set a trial date 8 months later without collecting any evidence.

Pointing out that Bora Kaplan's posts about Günay Restaurant and his report to the 155 emergency line belonged to the period when the place belonged to Kaplan, Attorney Eren Turan said, “It is impossible for these dates not to be known. Despite being known, they were not included in the MASAK report and the indictment. Think about it, Bora Kaplan sets up a company in the name of someone he trusts to launder his money, and then posts, ‘This place is mine.’ You cannot arrest people and seize companies based on a social media post when there is so much official record.”

THE MOUNTAIN BROUGHT FORTH A MOUSE IN ABK

While one of the detained defendants, Murat Abaz, stated that he had read every book on money laundering but still could not understand it, his lawyer Soner Dalkıran noted the following:

“While they were saying ‘a big, sensational operation, a new Civangate’ on September 7, the mountain brought forth a mouse. Saying there is an organization and it needs members, they found members from anyone who said hello to Bora Kaplan to his family members, whether necessary or unnecessary. It's the water of the water of the chicken. It is a usurpation of function for the police to prepare the indictment. You know how they say the defendants seized companies; unfortunately, the clients' companies were seized.”

I WANT MY HONOR, NOT RELEASE

Geological Engineer Ozan Can Yıldız explained that he founded companies to produce domestic and national products and worked for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, but was banned from entering Akkuyu because of this investigation, saying, “Everything here is wrong, incomplete. We are drifting into disaster, we have drifted. The indictment starts with FATF and ends with FATF. If I have been detained for 244 days for our country to get off the grey list, I accept it. I would have done something for my country.”

Ozan Can Yıldız also said the following, crying from time to time:

“A journalist said, ‘Damn you, you even named the company Ayyıldız.’ Ay is my partner's name, Yıldız is my surname. I don't owe anyone anything, I didn't defraud anyone, I didn't bribe anyone, I didn't launder anyone's dirty money. Since the trustee was appointed, my firm has done the same work. But my honor, my dignity is gone. There are engineers, teachers, tradesmen among us. How did you create a criminal organization out of us? I don't want my release from you, I want my honor, my dignity.”

Seizure with Secret Witness Testimony

Detained defendant Ersoy Yahya emphasized that he was being tried without detention in the organization case but was detained in this case, and noted that there was no money transfer between him and any of the defendants.

Ersoy Yahya's lawyer Funda Şahin also pointed out the following:

“Although there is no finding regarding my client's accounts in the MASAK report, it is stated in the indictment as ‘as seen in the MASAK report.’ In addition, my client's company was among the companies decided to be seized. How? Not by the MASAK report; the decision to seize the company was made based on the ‘as far as I heard’ statement of the secret witness code-named Ü5, who later retracted his statement.”

Proceedings as if the Defendant Abroad Were Present

The lawyer for one of the defendants, Erkan Yıldırım, explained that although his client went abroad long before this investigation, the Prosecutor's Office prepared fake documents as if he had been brought to court, and the Criminal Judgeship of Peace issued a judicial control decision of a travel ban based on this document, saying, “Lift that decision, you issue the travel ban decision again. If it can be given in absentia like this.”

After the statements of the defendants and lawyers were completed, the hearing was adjourned until 21:30 for the decision.

Announcing the decisions at 22:30, the Judge stated that it was decided to release detained defendants Erhan Arslan, Murat Abaz, and Savaş Akçay with a foreign travel ban judicial control measure, Ozan Can Yıldız and Hıncal Alper Tansu with house arrest, to lift the judicial control measures of some of the non-detained defendants subject to judicial control, and to continue the detention of other defendants, including Bora Kaplan and Barış Kurt.

In addition, while the request to lift the measures on companies and assets was rejected, a decision was made to send the MASAK report to a three-person expert committee.

The hearing was adjourned to February 25.