Minister Yerlikaya announces: 1 organized crime group dismantled

According to information shared by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, "Mahzen-47" operations were conducted in Ankara, Antalya, Mersin, Nevşehir, Sivas, and Şanlıurfa, with Hatay as the hub, following efforts by the Hatay Provincial Gendarmerie Command under the coordination of the Hatay Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Gendarmerie General Command's Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Department. It was determined that the suspects, who were members of an organized crime group involved in crimes such as qualified fraud, forgery of official documents, bribery, unlawful use of personal data, misconduct in public office, and violation of the Tax Procedure Law, used the identities of elderly or young citizens through medical firms to issue irregular medical reports. They had the individuals for whom reports were issued sign blank papers, which were then used to create fake prescriptions. If the blank papers used for prescriptions ran out, they forged the signatures of patients or their relatives to create fake prescriptions. They then used invoices for these irregularly issued prescriptions and fake powers of attorney notarized in the names of the rightful beneficiaries to collect payments from PTT branches, thereby obtaining illicit gains.

PUBLIC LOSS IDENTIFIED

As a result of the operations, 51 suspects, including ringleaders İsmail Azar and Hamza Mutlu, were apprehended, and unlicensed pistols as well as numerous powers of attorney, prescriptions, receipts, and promissory notes believed to have been used in the crimes were seized.
Furthermore, as a result of joint efforts with MASAK and the Adana Social Security Institution (SGK) Health Audit Team, it was determined that the organized crime group used 6,532 irregularly issued notarized power of attorney documents in their activities, causing a public loss of approximately 1 billion Turkish Liras.