Muhittin Böcek adds details to 'hawala' claim in supplementary statement: Names 'Taç Döviz'

It has emerged that Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek, who is being held in custody, has provided a new supplementary statement to the prosecutor's office. In this statement, Böcek provided details on how the money transfer was conducted regarding the 5 million euro "hawala" allegation he had raised in previous declarations.

In a supplementary statement given in June, Böcek had alleged that Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu requested 15 million euros for his candidacy process, and that he had sent 5 million euros of this amount via the "hawala" system. Reiterating the same claim in his latest statement, Böcek indicated that the name "Taç Döviz" was involved in the transfer.

According to what Böcek told the prosecutor's office, upon learning that the Mayor of Muratpaşa had met with İmamoğlu and received certain assurances regarding the candidacy determination process, he traveled to Istanbul on November 30, 2023, with his chief of staff, Yasin Y. Böcek stated that he met with İmamoğlu at a hotel there.

Böcek alleged that during this meeting, İmamoğlu said he had not promised the candidacy to anyone else and would choose him, but requested approximately 15 million euros in financial support for this. Böcek stated that he told him he would cover this amount over time as much as he could.

'100 TL BANKNOTE' ACCOUNT

In his statement, Böcek explained that after returning to Antalya, he entrusted a certain amount of money he had set aside for the election budget to a friend whose name he did not wish to disclose, and told this person that he needed to make a 5 million euro payment in Istanbul. Böcek also noted that because the money he entrusted was less than 5 million euros, he asked for the remaining amount to be completed as a loan.

According to Böcek's declaration, the person in question mentioned a money transfer method known as "hawala." Böcek described how his friend took a photo of a 100 TL banknote he had with him, then placed the same banknote into an envelope with a note containing a name and phone number, and gave it to him.

When the prosecutor's office asked for the identity of the person who facilitated this system and the name and phone number on the note, Böcek said he did not want to provide his friend's identity information. Stating that he did not remember the phone number as about two years had passed, Böcek expressed that he remembered "Taç Döviz" was written on the note.

Böcek informed the prosecutor's office that the money might have been sent to a business named Taç Döviz located in the Grand Bazaar, but that he did not know whether it had been received.

Böcek also stated that he called İmamoğlu on December 16, 2023, to request an appointment for a face-to-face meeting, and traveled to Istanbul again with Yasin Y. on December 17, 2023. Explaining that he met with İmamoğlu alone on the ground floor of a high-rise plaza he knew as an election office, Böcek alleged that he handed the envelope containing the 100 TL and the note to İmamoğlu.

Stating that he told him he could make payments for the remainder of the money he claimed was requested "in the event of a presidential candidacy process," Böcek expressed that he did not make the remaining payments due to İmamoğlu's arrest.

In his previous statements, Böcek had also alleged that he sent 1 million euros to Veli Ağbaba under the instruction of Özgür Özel, 950 thousand dollars to the late Manisa Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek, and 200 thousand dollars to the CHP Headquarters. Ağbaba and Özel had denied these allegations.