Detailed testimony of municipal police officer emerges: It turns out he gave even more money

Müslim SARIYAR/12punto.com.tr

Two lists detailing the number of people allegedly defrauded by former Denizbank Levent Branch manager Seçil Erzanhave been included in the case file. Emre Belözoğlu, Arda Turan, Selçuk İnan, Emre Çolak and many business people are among the 29 individuals on the list, which also includes a municipal police officer. Hüseyin Eligül, who allegedly  lost 500,000 dollars to Seçil Erzan, works as a municipal police officer at the Çorlu Municipality.The detailed testimony of the officer, whose loss of 500,000 dollars had sparked curiosity, has now emerged.  

MY WIFE WAS UPSET, SO SEÇİL ERZAN EXPLAINED THE SYSTEM

In his testimony, Hüseyin Eligül, who explained that he had known Seçil Erzan for 30 years, stated the following. "While my wife was sitting at home with Seçil Erzan and her mother, my son Tunahan called his mother and mentioned that he couldn't go anywhere because he had no money. When my wife became upset about this, Seçil Erzan asked why she was upset and began talking about Denizbank's private banking activities. She told my wife that she could help us benefit from these interest rates. When we got home, my wife told me about this conversation. Upon this, I called Seçil Erzan on the phone and asked how these special interest rates worked. She told me that transactions were made with special interest rates in the Denizbank private banking department and that, because she was authorized, she could help us benefit from these private banking activities."

"I GAVE 50 THOUSAND DOLLARS"

Stating that Seçil Erzan  explained that she was in charge of managing the operations, Hüseyin Eligül continued his testimony as follows. "Because she was a bank manager and I saw her like a daughter, I trusted her. Following this, in early 2016, I first handed her 50,000 dollars, which were my savings of many years, in person at her office at the Denizbank Florya branch. She did not open any account for me. The reason for this was that the activities would be conducted through the private banking department. As far as I remember, after 2016, I sold my car and gave her another 50,000 dollars by going to the Florya branch again."

"I SOLD THE FIELDS"

"In 2019, fields were left to my wife as an inheritance. We sold them and converted them into cash. I handed over about 100,000 dollars to Seçil Erzan at the Florya branch. Up until that date, she had handed me cash on no more than four occasions, totaling about 15,000 TL."

"I GAVE 100,000 DOLLARS"

Explaining that they were in contact with Seçil Erzan, Hüseyin Eligül continued his testimony as follows. "At the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, due to both the pandemic and the war, Seçil Erzan called me and said that our money was blocked, that payments could not be made because the bank's owners had changed, and that they could not withdraw the money. She said that in order to withdraw the money, we needed to put more money in. She said if we put in 1, we would get 4 back. I borrowed money from friends and family and gave her about 100,000 dollars at the Florya branch."

"I RECEIVED 1 MILLION 700 THOUSAND LIRA"

"At the end of 2021, I was going to buy a house in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ. I was going to buy the house from the foundation. Upon this, in mid-2022, until the house was completed, Seçil gave me 1 million 700 thousand TL in installments. I took delivery of my house with the money she gave me. When I asked Seçil Erzan how much more investment profit I had, she couldn't give me a clear figure and made comments like, 'There is more, brother, don't you worry.' Since I didn't have any other needs at that moment, I didn't question it."

 According to the municipal police officer's claim, Seçil Erzan this time wanted him to sell the house he had bought and enter the fund. Hüseyin Eligül described the incident as follows. "At the beginning of 2023, Seçil Erzan called me and came with an offer, saying, 'Brother, I can't give you all the money, but if you want some of it, let's sell your house and if we put that money into the system, I will give you 4 times the amount you put in within 45 days. At least we will relieve you.' I accepted this in order to pay back the money I had received from others and to get rid of my debt. I sold the house I had bought for 200,000 dollars, and this time, not to Seçil Erzan, but upon her direction and her statement that he would come to her, I handed it over to the person named Ali Yörük, whose photo is above, inside the Çorlu branch of Garanti Bank on Saray Street at the end of January or beginning of February 2023."

"SHE SAID, 'BROTHER, I CANNOT PAY YOUR MONEY'"

"When the 45 days were up and she was supposed to make the payment, she called me. She said, 'Brother, I cannot pay your money. I need another 50,000 dollars; if you give it to me immediately, I will give you 800,000 dollars from your accumulated money within 2 days.' I immediately borrowed 50,000 dollars from people around me and took it to her at the Denizbank Levent branch. However, this time I did not give her the money in her office. I gave it to Seçil Erzan inside her car in front of the branch. Immediately after I gave her this money, she continued to stall me. Afterwards, she was already taken into custody, and I could not get my money back."

"I GAVE A TOTAL OF 550,000 DOLLARS"

"In total, from 2016 to 2023, I gave her about 550,000 dollars. I received about 1,760,000 liras. I did not receive any other money. I have been a municipal police officer for 30 years; I gave this person the money I had saved up until now and the money we obtained from an inheritance left to my wife, with the dream of buying a house to live in. However, because I had known her for years and trusted her due to her position at Denizbank, she abused this trust and victimized me. Furthermore, she told me that Fatih Terim also had an account at Denizbank like me. However, I only know what she said; I did not see any documents or anything. She would open her phone and show me photos, demonstrating that there were large amounts of money in the accounts. I was already convinced after seeing these."

THE MONEY ON THE NOTE

During the search conducted at the home of Seçil Erzan, who was taken into custody, some notes were seized. One of the seized notes read:  "400,000 USD was received from the person named Hüseyin Eligül. 800,000 USD was paid; the person was paid more than the 400,000 USD amount, and Mr. Musa" was written. During police questioning, Hüseyin Eligül was also asked about what was written on this piece of paper. Eligül claimed that he did not receive such money. 

THE INCIDENT IN WHICH HE IS A SUSPECT

Hüseyin Eligül, allegedly under the direction of Seçil Erzan,  took 180,000 dollars from businessman İbrahim Kocabaldır in Çanakkale and brought it to Seçil Erzan. Within the scope of this investigation, Hüseyin Eligül was included in the case as a suspect. Regarding this incident, in his  testimony, he stated that while he was in Çanakkale, Seçil Erzan called him and asked, 'There is a package, can you pick it up?' He stated,I said okay. I received a sealed bag from Mr. İbrahim. I did not know there was money inside. I saw that there was money when I was at Seçil's house.

News Source: Müslim Sarıyar