Appellate court overturns sentence given to Seçil Erzan: 102 years and 4 months in prison

The appellate court has announced its decision in the case of Seçil Erzan, who was sentenced to 102 years and 4 months in prison and a judicial fine of 753 thousand 880 Turkish Lira on charges of defrauding more than 30 people—including well-known footballers such as Arda Turan, Fernando Muslera, Emre Belözoğlu, and Selçuk İnan—of millions of lira by claiming there was a high-yield, reliable fund and that names like Fatih Terim were also involved.

The 22nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice completed its review of the prison sentence handed down by the Istanbul 41st High Criminal Court to the defendant Erzan for the crimes of "qualified fraud" and "forgery of private documents." In its assessment, the court stated that the court of first instance did not include information regarding the consolidated files in its verdict, which made judicial review difficult.

The chamber found the appeals to be well-founded, noting that certain procedural rules were not followed during the trial process. In this context, it was decided to overturn the court's decision and send the file back to the local court for a retrial.

The 22nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice stated that Seçil Erzan's status as a bank manager does not, by itself, constitute the crime of qualified fraud and that the incident should be evaluated within the framework of a different legal classification of the crime. The decision also cited deficiencies in the indictment's narrative and the incorrect determination of the legal classification of the crime as grounds for the reversal.

News Source: 12punto