Statement on the Seçil Erzan case from Emre Belözoğlu's lawyer Şekip Mosturoğlu! Will he attend the hearing?

The fraud case in which former Denizbank branch manager Seçil Erzan is accused of collecting money from many people in the sports and business worlds under the name of the 'Fatih Terim Fund' with promises of high returns continues to remain on the agenda.

Lawyer Şekip Mosturoğlu, representing manager Emre Belözoğlu, who lost 4 million 292 thousand Dollars to Seçil Erzan—for whom a prison sentence of up to 252 years is being sought—has made statements regarding the case.

Mosturoğlu, who also represents his cousin Volkan Bahçekapılı, whose name is mentioned in the case, stated that the testimonies of those who could not attend the hearing could steer the course of the trial, while pointing out that inconsistencies persist.

"THIS CONTRADICTION MUST BE RESOLVED SOMEHOW"

Evaluating the latest developments in the case, Şekip Mosturoğlu said, "We understood to whom and how the money Emre Belözoğlu invested under the name of a fund was distributed. For the first time in this hearing, she explicitly stated that if she were not a bank manager, this transaction would not have been conducted with her. She said very clearly regarding Emre Belözoğlu, 'He is the only victim of this system.' There are issues I am not satisfied with, and I don't think the court was either. She stated largely contradictory numbers, people, places, and times. She even angered the presiding judge, and the judge said this should be provided in writing; she said she would provide it at the next hearing. At the end of the hearing, the lawyer for the imprisoned bank manager made what I think was an interesting defense. He provided a very comprehensive witness list. It looks like it will drag on because in every hearing, the defendants expand the event and make statements by changing their initial testimonies. In Seçil Erzan's first statement, the bank has no responsibility; in her 2nd statement, the bank is solely responsible; in her 3rd statement, the bank is not involved at all; and in the latest hearings, the bank is responsible again. This contradiction must be resolved somehow. Since she has no notes in her hand, she explains it like this: 'My notebooks and documents regarding the subject were seized by the bank; I don't have them,' she says. The court requested their subpoena as well. She states the distribution of the money, then changes it during another statement an hour later. In the first hearing, she was more positive and exculpatory regarding the people being tried for participating in this act with her; now she has been much more accusatory. She said their responsibility is as much as hers. The imprisoned bank manager says, 'When they first invited me to the bank, the bank said it would resolve the victims' grievances within its own responsibility.' She probably thought that when the victims' grievances were resolved, the bank would not put her through any legal process and she would continue her normal life. She explains something like, 'Trusting this, I gave a statement in the direction they wanted, which was not true.' I couldn't understand how she trusted it, but she is not in a position to make a deal anyway; criminal cases have been opened, indictments have been prepared, and civil lawsuits are ongoing. After this point, the bank is not in a position to make a deal with her, and even if it were, it would be of no use to the bank," he said.

"THE MESSAGES SHOW US THAT THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE WHO KNEW A CRIME WAS BEING COMMITTED"

Speaking about the messages on Seçil Erzan's phone, Lawyer Mosturoğlu said, "The dialogues in the decrypted WhatsApp messages actually show us that there are many people who helped, participated, or knew that this crime was being committed within the scope of committing this crime. I made a request to the court; I said let the interrogation minutes from the hearing, the WhatsApp messages, and the statements of the defendants in the WhatsApp messages be brought together and let a criminal complaint be filed with the prosecutor's office for the preparation of a new indictment. The court said the parties can do it, so we can do it too. Two people whose names are in the WhatsApp messaging and who were heard as witnesses explain that on March 14, Seçil Erzan told them everything, confessed, that this was not a fund, and how the system worked. My client Emre Belözoğlu was included in the system on the 17th. If these people had reported to the police or the bank's senior officials that this crime was being committed—and not reporting a crime committed is also a crime under our penal code—Emre Belözoğlu would not have been in this system. He would not have had a loss of 4 million 200 thousand dollars. For these witnesses, it is a situation described there as if it were very normal. Incredible events lasting for months took place in this bank branch, and no one in the branch saw or heard it; the employees are like that too, so much so that the court requested the names of all employees, and it will probably hear them too. Of course, these are people currently working for the bank; they will probably not want to testify against the bank. I cannot accept the fact that such an event, which took place in such a serious and important bank in Turkey, could not be understood or heard. One of the most critical pieces of evidence here is the camera footage; it was delivered to the prosecutor's office days later, and a portion of it has no content. Emre Belözoğlu went there for days, other victims explain it; they gave the money at the bank. There are cameras there where the money was given, but none of them have footage. Even this actually raises suspicion, and there is an investigation regarding this; let's see about the tampering with evidence."

WILL EMRE BELÖZOĞLU ATTEND THE HEARING?

Speaking about Emre Belözoğlu's inability to attend the hearing, Mosturoğlu continued his words as follows:

"Emre could not come due to his match schedule; a traffic jam might occur again because the hearing is on Friday, and the league calendar has not been announced yet. This time he will come, he will definitely come. He also wants to come very much; at one point we even offered him the opportunity to testify in Ankara via SEGBİS, but he said, 'No, I will come and testify in person.' He will come to the next hearing; their grievances and what they will tell will perhaps steer and shape the case. There are ongoing investigations, and those investigations will carry this file to another dimension. For example, there is likely a MASAK investigation there regarding usury and those who received this excess money. There is a file regarding the tampering with evidence, and a file regarding the assault and detention of the bank manager. Therefore, one should not focus only on this case and have very high expectations. It will not remain as profit for those who took this money in excess. Erzan is sometimes a very professional banker, sometimes an ordinary person on the street, and what she tells creates a great contradiction. There are some problems in the document order regarding the money she received, but you think it shouldn't be there, for example, in the money she gave. I estimate that in the coming hearings, she will make more grounded, understandable, and acceptable defenses. Today, when the question 'Where is the money?' was asked, she also turned to the courtroom and asked, 'Where is the money?'"