Two new releases in IMM investigation: Effective remorse

As part of the "corruption" investigation conducted into the IMM, CHP Şişli Municipal Council member Umut Şenol was arrested on March 23, along with IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu. Berat Çağrı Kapki, the cousin of businessman Murat Kapki, was arrested on May 26.

According to the report by Ceylan Sever from Habertürk, both individuals were released today upon the request of the prosecutor's office following their statements of effective remorse provided to the prosecution.

In its decision, the Istanbul 11th Criminal Court of Peace noted that Umut Şenol provided sincere statements and confessions within the scope of the investigation conducted against him for the crimes of "Bribery" and "Being a member of an organization established for the purpose of committing a crime," and that his statement was taken upon his own request to benefit from the provisions of effective remorse. It was decided that Berat Çağrı Kapki would also be released by benefiting from effective remorse for the same reasons.

CHP Şişli Council member and businessman Umut Şenol, who wanted to benefit from effective remorse, made the following allegations in his statement:

"In 2016, I purchased a company called Clear Channel from the Americans. After purchasing it, I changed its name to Core Medya and started operating in the outdoor advertising sector. Since that day, I have been operating in the outdoor advertising sector with my company named Core Medya. A few months after purchasing the company, I sold 27 percent to Nihat Karahan, 27 percent to the Olçok Group, and 26 percent to İrfan Karakaş. Therefore, I only hold a 20 percent stake. This company already had a contract for advertising spaces related to metrobus stops and billboards obtained from the IMM from 2008 to 2019. After I bought this company, this contract continued accordingly. The contract I am talking about covered the section from Söğütlüçeşme to Avcılar."

ALLEGATION THAT "I WAS TOLD TO TRANSFER THE ADVERTISING SPACES"

"In 2012, there was another separate contract signed with Kültür AŞ for the section from Avcılar to Beylikdüzü, which was to end in 2022. In July 2019, Hüseyin Seçkin, a partner of the company named Urbanmedia, called me and said that I had to transfer these advertising spaces on the metrobus lines to him. Upon this, we met face-to-face immediately. In this meeting, he said to me, 'My secret partner in Urbanmedia is Fatih Keleş. That's why you have to transfer this place to us, go tell your troubles to Fatih Keleş. Then you will understand who Fatih Keleş is.' Upon this, since Fatih Keleş and I were both council members, we met at the IMM. When I told him the situation, he spoke in a way that implied I would give this place to Urbanmedia.

Upon this, I went to Kültür A.Ş. to talk to the general manager of Kültür A.Ş., Serdal Taşkın. When I said that the contract period would end in 2022, that the part covering the section between Söğütlüçeşme and Avcılar signed with the IMM and the part between Avcılar and Beylikdüzü should be carried out together, that I was a member of the CHP, that I served as a council member, and asked why I was facing such treatment, he told me, 'The IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu knows about the issue, you need to transfer this place to Urbanmedia, it is a system that has been running since the Beylikdüzü period, and the system has made such a decision.' We consulted the situation with my partners at Core Medya, and they stated that it would not be good for us to get into a conflict with the IMM and that it would be beneficial for us to take a step back."

GAVE A SECOND STATEMENT

Stating that he wanted to provide information about some issues in addition to the effective remorse statement he gave on June 3, Şenol made the following allegations in his second statement on June 19:

"In my previous statement, I stated that after purchasing the company named Core Medya, I sold 27 percent of the company shares to Nihat Karahan, 27 percent to the Olçok Group, and 26 percent to İrfan Karakaş. Subsequently, Nihat Karahan purchased the 27 percent share belonging to the Olçok Group and the 26 percent share belonging to İrfan Karakaş, becoming the owner of 80 percent of the shares in total. As I stated in my previous statement, Nihat Karahan is the nephew of Murat İlbak. It was Murat İlbak himself who made Nihat a partner in Core Medya and ensured the purchase of the shares. Before Nihat purchased the shares belonging to İrfan Karakaş and the Olçok Group, I also wanted to purchase these shares at the same price, but Murat İlbak told me in our face-to-face meeting that it was not appropriate for me to buy these shares."