Public bank security shaken: 8 kilograms of gold missing in Afyonkarahisar

R.Ö., who lives in Belgium, and his wife Ü.Ö. began keeping the gold they had been saving since 2014 in a safe deposit box at a public bank's Bolvadin branch in Afyonkarahisar for security reasons. During this period, the family accumulated approximately 8 kilograms of gold, consisting entirely of 22-karat bracelets and Republic gold coins, all of which were documented with receipts. On October 11, R.Ö. visited Bolvadin and went to the bank to make a necessary payment for his company; he wanted to take some gold from the safe to exchange it. After completing the necessary procedures, he went down to the vault room and opened his safe, only to find that his gold was not there.

INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED

R.Ö. then rushed to his lawyer, Samet Özaydın. After R.Ö. explained the situation, Özaydın went to the police department and filed a criminal complaint on behalf of his client. Following the complaint, police crime scene investigation teams went to the bank branch to conduct an examination. While fingerprints belonging to many people, including family members, were found in the safe, the prosecutor's office took over the case and launched a wide-ranging investigation.

'HE WAS KEEPING IT IN THE SAFE FOR SECURITY'

Describing the events, the family's lawyer, Samet Özaydın, noted that when his client came to him and explained what happened, he could not believe it at first, and subsequently, they initiated the necessary legal proceedings.

Özaydın said, "There is a safe that my client and his wife have been using jointly since 2014. This safe belongs to a very well-known public bank. My client has some gold deposits at the bank. There is gold that he saved for his own future and that of his children. The gold in question currently weighs between 7 and 8 kilograms. At current rates, the value of the gold is between 21 and 25 million TL, and all of this gold is documented with receipts. All of the gold was purchased from well-known jewelers both domestically and abroad. My client had been keeping all of this gold in this safe for security purposes for about 10 years. My client had not taken any gold out of the safe during this entire period, until October 11."

'DIFFERENT FINGERPRINTS ARE PRESENT'

Stating that the safe was completely empty when it was opened, Özaydın continued his explanation as follows:

"On that day, my client requested that the safe be opened, and it was opened, but the inside of the safe was completely empty. When my client saw the situation, he was shocked and reported it to the bank officials, but no action was taken by the branch. Then my client contacted us, and we went to the branch; we truly saw that the safe at the branch was empty, there was no gold. Even though I reported this situation to the branch officials, the situation was not recorded in any official report. We, along with our clients, were forced to file a complaint with the police, and the prosecutor's office subsequently launched a detailed investigation. There are different fingerprints in the safe, and we also learned that the safe had undergone locksmith work in the past. Regarding this matter, the situations of all personnel and anyone related to the safe will be investigated. The investigation is ongoing; we will definitely follow up on the criminal and legal process of this incident."

'RELIABILITY IS DEFINITELY A PROBLEM'

Özaydın stated that other people who want to invest, like his client, apply to banks because they are considered reliable, but this issue calls the entire reliability into question.

Emphasizing that they were shocked that such an incident occurred at a state bank, Özaydın said, "This is a public bank; people trust it and deposit everything they have here. They apply here to secure their future. However, if the result comes to this point, then reliability is definitely a problem. Moreover, this is a state bank."