New development in the Seçil Erzan case: Fatih Terim testifies for the first time

A new development has occurred in the case of banker Seçil Erzan, who faces up to 226 years in prison for allegedly defrauding 18 people, including footballers Arda Turan, Emre Belözoğlu, Fernando Muslera, Volkan Bahçekapılı, and Selçuk İnan, of a total of 25 million 770 thousand dollars and 7 million 384 thousand Turkish Lira.

Fatih Terim, one of the former managers of Galatasaray and the Turkish National Team, testified for the first time as a complainant in the 'high-yield fund fraud case.'

It was learned that Terim gave his testimony at the Bodrum High Criminal Court.

FATİH TERİM'S TESTIMONY REVEALED

12punto has obtained Fatih Terim's statements regarding the Seçil Erzan case. Here is the testimony provided by Terim:

HAKAN ATEŞ WAS VERY PERSISTENT

About 13 years ago, when I was the manager of Galatasaray, an agreement was made between the Galatasaray Club and Denizbank, and within this framework, the club began working with Denizbank. Around that time, during a Champions League trip, I met the bank's CEO, Hakan Ateş, on a flight. He was sitting in the row behind me with his then-wife. He approached me, introduced himself, and said, "We have reached an agreement with the club; let's move your accounts to our bank as well, coach." My initial reaction was negative because I had been working with another bank for years, and I do not like changing consultants, service providers, or firms around me who change accounts frequently; I build relationships based on long-term trust. Hakan Ateş was very persistent at that moment, talked about the advantages the bank would provide, and explained that other employees at the club had also moved to Denizbank. Upon this, I transferred some of my bank accounts to Denizbank, just like all the other club employees. Later, Hakan and I became friends, or at least that's what I thought. He showed very close interest and made me feel like a very special customer receiving the best service.

A SCENARIO BEYOND IMAGINATION

I was a Denizbank customer for about 13 years until the incident that is the subject of the case occurred. As far as I remember, I met the defendant Seçil Erzan in 2016 or 2017 as the new manager of Denizbank's Florya Branch. Denizbank accepted me as a special customer, and I was always treated this way. Hakan Ateş, the CEO of Denizbank, was a person I addressed by his first name, whom I considered a friend until these events took place, who was a guest at both my summer and winter homes, and whose home I was a guest at; we were close, or at least that is what I believed. I have had no relationship with him since these events. Within the framework of the close interest he showed, special care was taken regarding my accounts at Denizbank. It was Denizbank's senior management that designated Seçil Erzan as my private banker, had her work this way, and followed up on it. I heard that Hakan said in his statement to the prosecutor's office that he met Seçil Erzan at an event I organized. This is a scenario that defies imagination. I am not the person who would introduce a branch manager who has worked at the bank for 20 years and received awards from the bank to the CEO of Denizbank. In fact, I remember the regional manager, Ms. Sermin, making an appointment with me and coming to my office in Florya in person to tell me that Seçil Erzan was among the best bank branch managers. This meeting held in Florya took place in front of many people; it was not a secret meeting, so I do not think there is a possibility that Ms. Sermin does not remember this. I did not come across this information in Ms. Sermin's testimony in court, so I am stating the facts and the missing parts specifically so that the file is not incomplete. Thinking that I was a customer to whom the bank showed special care, and especially because Hakan made me feel this way, I had even the smallest banking transactions done by telling Seçil Erzan, whom Hakan and the senior management also stated they trusted.

I TRUSTED SEÇİL ERZAN AS MY BANKER

I do not understand financial matters very well. Due to my busy work life and frequent travel, I have not been to a bank branch for many years. In fact, I have not stepped foot in the Denizbank Florya Branch or the Denizbank Büyükdere Branch even once; I don't even know where they are. Throughout the last 15-20 years of my professional life, money deposit and withdrawal transactions and documents to be signed were handled by bank employees coming to where I was. Seçil Erzan would come in person, sometimes at the Florya facilities in front of everyone, and sometimes at my home, and have me sign the documents she brought in bulk; I would sign them without ever feeling the need to read them. In fact, when I was going to travel abroad, there were times when cash was brought to the airport upon my speaking or messaging with Ms. Seçil. It was not always Ms. Seçil; other Denizbank employees would also come, bring money, take money, sometimes they would get a signature, sometimes they wouldn't. Seçil Erzan had been my private banker for years. I trusted Seçil Erzan as my private banker because of the trust created by Denizbank and because she was the person Denizbank showed me. Throughout my life, I have built all my relationships on trust; my life has always been like this. It will be like this from now on; one cannot live without trust.

From time to time, I would ask Seçil Erzan about my accounts at the bank, or if she wasn't there, the banker she directed me to. They would look at their screens at the bank and send me a photo of the asset status screen. At that time, all my correspondence was via SMS. I requested many transfer transactions by sending SMS messages, and they would return to me via SMS and convey information about my bank accounts, sometimes by writing in the message and sometimes by sharing a screenshot. There were also voice instructions and approvals they recorded by phone; if I remember correctly, these were mostly related to loans.

I WAS NOT GOING TO THE BANK BRANCH

I usually handled my cash transactions through my driver, Umut Akgöze. I have also had such transactions done with many other people I trusted, whoever was near me at that moment, trusting them. I have often sent amounts to be deposited into my account in this way and made cash withdrawals in this way. This is not a situation specific to Denizbank; I have done many cash withdrawal and deposit transactions through people I trusted in the past as well, and I did not see any harm in this because it was not a matter of me going to the bank branch in person.

THEY SAID SHE WAS ONE OF OUR BEST BRANCH MANAGERS

Seçil Erzan took special care of all my transactions in my Denizbank accounts. I saw every financial advice she gave me as the bank's opinion, because the bank's management had trusted her, brought her to that position, and even came to me in person and said, "She is one of our best branch managers," and I did not see a need to verify or question this further. When Seçil Erzan, who served as my private banker, said things like, "Coach, you have this much money in the bank, you haven't touched this money this month, let's not let it go to waste, let's evaluate it," I naturally did not look for a bad intention behind this, and I did not question this situation. I did not question it because I naturally felt trust. In such situations, I said things like, "You know better, if it will be better that way, let's act that way, let's evaluate it however you see fit." Later, she would perform the necessary transactions, and in cases where my approval was needed, she would either call or get my signature.

I NEVER CHECKED ANY OF THESE TRANSACTIONS

I never specifically checked the origin of these transactions, and I never will, and I have never done so at any bank in my life. The tracking of the accounts was generally up to her as the branch manager, and when she was not there or was not available, she would direct me to other bank employees she deemed appropriate. Rüya Sağır is one of them. Now I understand that the money Ms. Seçil told me was deposited into a custody account, which she said she wrote to me about, was not deposited into such an account.

She never told me specifically that money would be deposited into a special fund, that high returns would be obtained from this fund, that there was a fund in the name of Hakan or Mehmet Aydoğdu, or that a fund would be established in my name. What she told me was that my money would be evaluated in the bank's custody accounts and that many executives at the bank also benefited from this; I did not question this, and I sent the amounts she asked me to send in cash as cash. I only learned that she used my name for others after these events came to light. She built significant trust in me for years, and within the framework of the trust she built, we performed hundreds of banking transactions, some for high amounts and some for low amounts. By calling me from time to time or sending messages, and also following the salaries deposited to me, she has said, "Coach, I am tying this up daily or overnight." Since she was the banker, I always trusted her suggestions and said you can perform this transaction in line with her recommendations. I trusted her very much because of the necessity of her approaching me with extra interest and respect in all these transactions. Therefore, as I read in the press, I now understand that she did not feel the need to make a special effort to persuade me, unlike the other people she victimized in this case. She was showing the amounts I thought were entering the Denizbank system in the account statements she sent via SMS, opposite a line that said Custody. She had told me that the money I deposited was sitting in the custody account. Because of this process, I did not have any doubts, and not even a bad thought crossed my mind. I assumed that all the money I sent was being evaluated by Denizbank. I would tell those who asked me about Ms. Seçil that she was a good and attentive banker. I learned much later that without my knowledge, she had asked for money from many people around me and had also taken money from some. She also took from our close family friends and even tried to get more. I learned these much later.

'I DID WHATEVER ERZAN SAID'

Because I saw Seçil Erzan as Denizbank and because I already performed all my transactions in the manner I described, I did whatever Ms. Seçil said, how and in what way to do it, when money was to be transferred. She never made a special effort to persuade me for an investment.

The money deposited into my account and the money withdrawn from my account is my own money. I exercised discretion over my own money. There are many people I have supported, employed, and helped financially from time to time in my life. I use large amounts of cash from time to time. When I needed cash, I would have my money taken from Denizbank through people I trusted. When I was going to deposit cash, I would deposit it through people I trusted again. This is not a situation specific to Denizbank; I have done many cash withdrawal and deposit transactions through people I trusted in the past, and I did not see any harm in this.

I HAVE BEEN LIVING IN THE PUBLIC EYE FOR 50 YEARS

I would also like to state that I have been living in the public eye for the last 50 years. My home, my summer house, my family, my work, my life, the money I earned, the bonuses I received, everything is in the public eye. I live everything openly to the public. Not even once have I or my family lived anything in secret. In fact, from time to time, the salary I received brought discussions with it. My salary was unfortunately even the subject of the Parliament. I live this openly. In my life, I have never condescended to anything that was not my right and did not belong to me. I never asked for anything from anyone. In my life, I never tried to earn money other than through my work and my labor. All of Turkey knows that if I have any earnings from the institutions I worked for in Turkey for a period I did not work, I even donated these to charities.

I WAITED FOR TODAY

I did not direct anyone to make any financial investment. There are complainants in this case whom I know, and there are complainants whom I do not know; in fact, I do not know most of them. Not a single one of these more than 30 complainants and defendants can say that I directed someone to a so-called fund, that I called, or that I was called. If there is one, please let them come out and say it, say it in court, say it elsewhere. There is only one person who claims that I directed money somewhere, and that is the bank and the bank's advertising spaces. The only reason for the bank, which is not a party to the case, to do this is its own communication strategy. I wanted to talk about these for 1.5 years, but there was an ongoing judicial process, and out of respect for that, I waited for today.

'SEÇİL ERZAN NEVER MENTIONED A FUND TO ME'

As I stated, I do not understand financial matters, so I do not give advice to anyone on a subject I do not understand, and no one asks for my advice on such a subject. This includes my daughter, my nephew, and my former son-in-law. If they asked me if I knew Seçil Erzan, of course, I said that I knew Seçil Erzan and that she was a banker I trusted. But no one came to me and mentioned that there was such a fund or that there was a fund that Ms. Seçil named after me. No one asks me questions about monetary matters anyway, they cannot, just as I do not ask anyone.

I have not directed even a single person to any fund, investment, or a system that Ms. Seçil manages or claims to manage. It is already impossible because I never had any information about such a so-called fund. I did not know about the events until April 7, 2023, when Emre Belözoğlu and Arda Turan contacted my wife about this matter, until I heard about the events.

I have material and moral damages related to this incident. After this incident came to light, I had my accounts examined. As a result of the examinations, we determined that there is a serious discrepancy between the amounts I sent to be deposited into Denizbank and the amounts I withdrew from Denizbank. According to the information I received again via SMS from the bank employee Ms. Rüya, I should have a custody account and there should be around 3 million dollars there. This was the information given to me. But then Denizbank told me that there was no such money. Since my relationship with Denizbank dates back many years, we do not yet know the exact amount of the loss in my accounts; there are also lawsuits we have filed in this regard. My lawyers will also submit the information on these to the file.

THE REASON EMRE AND ARDA CONTACTED ME IS MY CLOSENESS TO HAKAN ATEŞ

I also want to touch upon some issues that were not asked. As I stated, I did not know about the events until April 7, 2023, when Emre Belözoğlu and Arda Turan contacted my wife about this matter, until I heard about the events. The reason Emre and Arda contacted me is my closeness to the bank's CEO, Hakan Ateş. On a Friday evening in April 2023, they contacted my wife; I was in Bodrum. As I learned later, they did not want to tell me the event first because I was fasting. I was already going to come to Istanbul by plane that day. When I came to Istanbul, they told me what happened. Upon this, I immediately called Hakan Ateş and asked for an appointment. Hakan first invited me to his home in Zorlu in response to this appointment request and said we could meet there. After coming to Istanbul the same evening, I asked Hakan via SMS when it would be appropriate for us to come. Later, Hakan called me and said, "Coach, if you come, they will recognize you at the building entrance; it is best if I come to your house, coach." I said Arda and Emre were at our house and that I would wait. After this conversation, there was no sound from Hakan for a long time. I called again because I was curious about Hakan's situation. Hakan said, "If possible, come to the general headquarters tomorrow at 10:00, let's meet there." Looking back now, I understand better what organizations were being made in the background during the process when there was no sound from Hakan.

'THEY DID NOT SAY WE SENT MONEY TO SEÇİL ERZAN ON FATİH HOCA'S ADVICE'

On Saturday morning, April 8, we went to the bank's general headquarters together, thinking we would only meet with Hakan. Hakan met us at the entrance of the building; he had done the same during my previous courtesy visit; I had known him as such a respectful and attentive person, but suddenly when he took us upstairs, 10-15 people appeared before us, as I remember; the entire senior management of the bank was there. We were very surprised, and while I thought we went to talk to Hakan to understand the event and to talk about what could be done for Arda and Emre's grievances, I was also asked if I had any loss. I said something like, "I don't know right now, I haven't made a damage assessment, if possible, let's make our damage assessment and then say something clear." Arda and Emre did not say, "We sent money to Seçil Erzan on Fatih Hoca's advice"; those who declare that such a statement was made at the meeting are liars, they are lying. As I said, I have not directed Arda, Emre, the other mentioned individuals, or any person to invest in a so-called fund, nor have I given advice; it did not happen, it cannot happen. While talking there, I was surprised when I heard the information about what Seçil Erzan did, and I must have shown that I was surprised.

I HAVE NO ACCOUNT THAT CANNOT BE GIVEN

I understand that an attempt is being made to cover up this matter, that the people who are victims in this incident are being shown as if they are guilty to the public, and that a calculation is being made to separate Denizbank from the incident. Because when I look at the reason we went to that general headquarters building and the picture that was presented to us there, I understand that this was a mise-en-scène set up to be used later, premeditatedly. I see this scenario as a behavior that people who have accounts that cannot be given would do.

Especially since my name is being used, it is already known to the entire public that there is an effort to draw a curtain over this event and Denizbank. Just for this reason, even the grievance experienced by my name and my family is a loss that has no material equivalent in any way, and this situation is much more important to me. My greatest desire is for the subject to be discussed before justice and for whoever is guilty to be revealed. The most important issue for me is that my name and my family are used as a screen in such an event and that the public's attention is tried to be drawn in different directions through me. Who is doing these and for what purpose is already emerging in the trial.

SHE WAS A BANKER I BELIEVED IN HER WORD

I also want to touch upon what is said about me being very close to Seçil Erzan. Seçil Erzan is the person I have known for years as the face of Denizbank, whom I thought was appointed with the care shown to me by Hakan and Ms. Sermin, whom I have not seen the slightest disrespect from for years, whom I have trusted for years, and to whom I have entrusted my money. When she said, "Coach, send your money in cash, I am keeping it in a special custody account," I sent it in cash; when she said, "Coach, let's evaluate your money here," I said, "You know best, Ms. Seçil." She was a banker I believed in her word. I learned with sadness that even the fact that my wife and I attended the invitation at her summer house for her engagement ceremony caused rumors. She is my banker and former lawyer who invited me to her engagement, and of course, I accepted this invitation. Today, again, if a consultant or lawyer I have worked with for years invited me to their engagement, wedding, or a special day, I would go again. After going, either I or my wife would write a special note and thank them. This is how we were raised. I would like to state here in the presence of the court that I do not understand why this has been talked about for days. As much as this is talked about, this can also be talked about then: Hakan Ateş had also invited me to their wedding with Ms. Demet Tokgöz, who is also an executive at Denizbank; unfortunately, we could not go due to my wife's illness, but if I could have gone to this, I would have gone. The correspondence for this is also available in the SMS on my phone. Just as it is normal for Ms. Seçil to invite me to this if she has decided to marry my former lawyer and is getting engaged, it is just as natural for Hakan to invite me to his wedding; I find both of them ordinary.

WE HAD A PROFESSIONAL BANKER-CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

I would also like to point out that although I am decades older than her, I have not even once called Seçil Erzan "Seçil." As can be seen from the correspondence I had with her, we always had a distant, professional, but equally trust-based banker-customer relationship.

The difference between facts and lies is this clear. I am 70 years old, and the thing I have learned best for all these years is this: There is no lie, trap, or smear that facts cannot defeat.

For 1.5 years, I have not spoken to anyone about these events except for my family and my lawyers. I have respect for the law and the court before anyone else. After this incident happened, I went to the courthouse and gave my statement to the prosecutor's office without being called. I came to court today to speak at the time I needed to speak. I am answering the questions today in the presence of a real judge and a real prosecutor. Before this, I did not make any statement to any newspaper, reporter, or social media regarding this subject. I did not speak anywhere. It was very difficult for me to wait for today without speaking, but my trust in and respect for the law and the judiciary forced me to do so. I have been living in the public eye for 50 years, and I am aware that the public is also waiting for a statement from me. In the process after this, the necessary information will be provided in the most accurate way to those I see as the right addressees, if I deem it necessary, not for the satisfaction of those who just love advertising and are curious about advertising, but for what kind of scenario the communications of those who advertise have been until today. I trusted a bank and a bank.

WHAT HAPPENED?

In the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for the ongoing main case, it is stated that the defendant, former Denizbank Levent Branch Manager Seçil Erzan, took money from footballers, business people, and complainants from various professional groups with the promise of a secret fund that brings high profits, and persuaded the complainants to invest money in this fund by saying that names like Fatih Terim and Hakan Ateş were included in this fund.

Erzan faces 90 to 295 years in prison for the crimes of "forgery of private documents" and "qualified fraud by persons who are merchants or company managers or acting on behalf of a company, during their commercial activities, or by cooperative managers within the scope of the cooperative's activity."

It is requested that the defendants Ali Yörük, Kerem Can, Hüseyin Eligül, Nazlı Can, Atilla Yörük, and Asiye Öztürk be sentenced to imprisonment between 3 and 98 years for the same crimes.

News Source: 12punto

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