New details on Braka, who sold the provincial building to CHP: A suspect in a drug case

New details have emerged regarding the sale of the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency building, which became a topic of discussion due to footage of money being counted.

In the incident for which the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment against 22 people, security camera footage from the office of Gökhan Taşkapan, the lawyer for Ali Rıza Braka—the person who sold the building to the CHP—was revealed, showing money brought in bags being counted.

It was determined that approximately 15 million liras of the sale, which the CHP stated as 39 million 870 thousand liras, was handed over in cash and not recorded. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had prepared an indictment against 22 people. In the case filed, it was requested that all 22 suspects be sentenced to 6 months to 1 year in prison under the article of the Law on Political Parties regarding "receiving or giving illegal donations, loans, or debts."

According to a report by Can Bursalı from Gazete Duvar, the building sold to the CHP on December 11 was officially acquired by Ali Rıza Braka, an official of the company SEAS Besicilik, 35 days before the sale. Braka became a citizen of the Republic of Turkey in 2019, 4 months before the sale of the building. According to security sources, Braka, whose previous name was Gertian, was involved in a multi-partner drug trafficking operation in Europe. Braka was a partner in the company SEAS Besicilik with U.K., who was also named in the shipment of cocaine with a total value stated to be 650 million euros. The partnership between U.K. and Braka ended at the beginning of 2019, before Braka had become a Turkish citizen.

On the other hand, it was learned that O.A., one of his partners in the drug shipment that Braka is alleged to have been involved in, was killed in an armed attack at a cement factory he owned in Kayseri in 2020.