'Transfers created from nothing' in MASAK report: İmamoğlu's lawyer Pehlivan arrested while documenting the scandal

It has been stated that Mehmet Pehlivan, the lawyer for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently imprisoned in Silivri Prison, had prepared a series of allegations that he intended to bring to public attention shortly before his arrest.

According to a report by Bahadır Özgür from Halk TV, it was discovered that Pehlivan had identified that money transfers not present in the latest MASAK report were written "as if they existed," and that the same transactions were recorded twice, inflating the total amount.

PRESENTED TO CHP, THEN ARRESTED

In the notes he prepared, Pehlivan marked the contradictions in MASAK's 181-page report dated June 4, 2025, with blue and orange pens and presented them to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel. Özel had previously stated that Pehlivan told him, "The MASAK report is a complete bombshell, Mr. Chairman," and reported that transactions were double-recorded and that a serious manipulation had taken place.

Özgür Özel also linked Pehlivan's sudden arrest just days after presenting this information to this situation, saying, "They took him in suddenly so that Mehmet wouldn't tell these things."

The latest MASAK report focused specifically on money transfers between members of Ekrem İmamoğlu's family. The report highlighted foreign currency transfers made to a company established by Selim İmamoğlu in Croatia in 2022. MASAK alleged that a total of 617 thousand 106 Euros were transferred abroad via SWIFT transactions in 2023 and 2024.

However, the fundamental contradiction pointed out by Mehmet Pehlivan was this: The same SWIFT transactions were entered into the table twice, once for the day the money was sent and once for the day it reached the account. Although this was technically a single transaction, it was shown as two separate transfers in the report, unfairly inflating the total amount.

The clearest example pointed out by Pehlivan is the transaction dated August 11, 2023:

The 55 thousand Euros sent to Selim İmamoğlu's company at 18:40 reached the account in Croatia on Monday, August 14. However, MASAK added this transaction to the report as if it were a "new transfer."

Transactions made using the same method were shown as duplicates in the report with one-day intervals, thus resulting in the total figure of 617 thousand Euros. In reality, this amount is much lower if the transactions are evaluated individually.

SOURCE OF THE MONEY IS CLEAR, YET STILL “SUSPICIOUS”

The report also clearly states who made these transactions. The senders of the money are Selim İmamoğlu's mother, Dilek İmamoğlu, and his grandfather, Hasan İmamoğlu. However, after providing this information, MASAK states that it finds the transactions "suspicious" without conducting any further inquiry.

Pehlivan's finding comes into play here as well. If the MASAK report had gone a few steps deeper into this information, the source of the money could have been clearly seen, and the "money laundering" allegations spread to the public could have been clearly refuted.

This scandal is the fifth report prepared by MASAK regarding the İmamoğlu family. Pehlivan had previously announced to the public that the previous four reports also contained similar errors, contradictions, and records containing bias. He was detained and subsequently arrested while preparing to expose the duplicate transactions in the fifth report.