'Mıstık' speaks in Engin-Dilan Polat trial: 'Because of the amount I withdrew from the bank...'

The trial of 28 defendants, including the couple Dilan and Engin Polat, continues today at the Anatolian 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. They are being tried with requests for up to 40 years in prison on charges of 'establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes,' 'laundering assets derived from crime,' and 'violating the Law on the Regulation of Betting and Games of Chance in Football and Other Sports Competitions,' amid allegations of laundering money through illegal betting and beauty centers using the cold wallet method.

ENGİN POLAT CONNECTED VIA SEGBİS

According to a report in Cumhuriyet; the defenses of all detained defendants and some non-detained defendants were heard during the first hearing held yesterday in the conference hall. In the second hearing of the trial, which continued today, detained defendants Engin Polat and his father Sezgin Polat connected to the court via the Audio and Video Information System (SEGBİS). Some non-detained defendants, including detained defendant Ahmet Gün, Dilan Polat, and her siblings Sıla Doğu and Can Doğu, also attended the hearing.

"WE HAD NO ACTIVITY OUTSIDE OF COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS"

Non-detained defendant Mustafa Özalp, nicknamed 'Mıstık,' who managed the social media accounts for all branches of the beauty centers, stated in his defense that he did not accept the charges, saying, "I was taken into custody because of an amount I withdrew from the bank. I do not know Derkan Başer or Veysel Şahin. I have branches in Ankara and Çorum. I have never used the system called mail order. We had no activity outside of commercial operations," he said.