What did Seçil Erzan say first in court? 'Everything started with that detail...'

Müslim SARIYAR/12punto.com.tr

The transcript of the hearing for the Seçil Erzan case, which has been the talk of Turkey, has been completed. According to the records, the hearing lasted 09 hours, 12 minutes, and 06 seconds.

HOW SEÇİL ERZAN FIRST DEFENDED HERSELF

All of the statements made in court by Seçil Erzan, whose requested sentence increased to 256 years following the acceptance of the indictment for two complainants, have been revealed. Seçil Erzan provided detailed information in response to the first question asked by the presiding judge: "Yes, cases have been filed against you for qualified fraud and forgery of private documents. What is your defense? We are listening to you."

"EVERYTHING STARTED WITH THAT OVERCONFIDENCE"

Seçil Erzan made her defense in response to the first question as follows: "Thank you. Ruining everything in my personal and social life, or destroying my entire life, was due to that initial unnecessary self-confidence I had in myself, saying yes to everyone, being unable to say no, the attitude of 'I can solve everything,' and taking on that first unnecessary responsibility; that first action was enough to bring my whole life to this state. Everything started with that unnecessary overconfidence, it started with the 'I can do it' confidence. The small things I ignored turned out to be jobs far beyond my capacity. Life is much, much harder than being a bank manager named Seçil Erzan.

Those I allowed to live for 1,000 years, thinking they wouldn't touch me, have released their poison into my life drop by drop. Now, when I look back, perhaps it was because I kept them comfortable in my comfort zone that I didn't notice these things. When I look back at my life, I see that that initial overconfidence split my life right down the middle."

"I WAS THE CAPTAIN OF A SINKING SHIP"

"As Seçil Erzan, I walked barefoot for 20 years as a bank manager and I never did anything wrong. I was successful. I had no accounts I couldn't explain on paper until February, but as people's 'Seço,' their dear friend, I am currently trying to walk on broken glass. I am very excited, I am very sorry. I was the captain of a ship that was about to sink. If I were a fraudster, the ship would have sunk, and I would have saved myself."

"THE BALANCE IS NOT WITH ME"

"I am sure that everyone in this courtroom knows that the balance being discussed—the balance that is the subject of the crime for which I am accused of qualified fraud—is not with me, that it was not dissipated by me in any financial instrument, that I did not acquire any assets for myself, that I did not smuggle it anywhere, and that I did not hide it anywhere. This is a 100% true fact, and everyone in this room also knows that this figure being discussed is not 45 million dollars; this is also a 100% fact. And there is one 100% true fact: I know that everyone here knows that the balance is in people's homes, in their cars, in the watches on their wrists, in their overseas trips, in their second homes, in their third summer houses, and in people's pockets."

SHE EXPLAINED HOW SHE ENTERED THE GALATASARAY COMMUNITY

"By the way, I became the branch manager of the Denizbank Florya Branch in 2011. Since the Galatasaray Football Club's Metin Oktay Facilities were in Florya at that time, all the players and employees were receiving their contract payments from the Florya Branch. The commercial accounts were at our Esentepe Commercial Branch. I was a good manager, I was very hardworking, I performed banking transactions very well, I loved my job very much, and I was very committed to my work. Therefore, I became well-known in that community due to banking transactions. Meanwhile, since I stayed there for many years, I started to meet with these friends outside of work and share our normal social lives—there are people among these complainants with whom I didn't have very close relationships in this room, of course—so we were having dinner together, meeting, and therefore we were getting to know each other and having information about each other's private lives."

"I AM NOT A FRAUDSTER"

"I am not a fraudster. I am a fraudster... I was defrauded. Something called a 'fund' emerged and was created, outside of anyone's will. It happened outside of my will. When I was close to the players at the Galatasaray Sports Club, I was supporting some people in evaluating their registered money, meaning I was helping them buy the right products at the right time, I was helping them buy land from outside. I was doing my best in this regard, but I did not stand up and take people's money for myself by embezzling it; someone defrauded me, and I have reached this state now."

SHE BLAMED THE LOAN SHARKS

"I came here on April 11th, and on April 13th, the loan sharks threw my mother out by the scruff of her neck; she lost her home. I sold my car, I sold everything. These people's greed for more than what is normal, under the name of interest, brought me to this state. I gave hundreds of promissory notes. There was no problem until February; the principal was being paid. There were also solutions on top of the principal, but after February, I was already under incredible pressure."

"I WAS THREATENED"

"I mean, people came to my house 24/7, doors were pounded. I can't explain any of this. They put a GPS on my car. They took my watch off my arm. They roughed me up. They put a bullet in front of me. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I couldn't explain anything to anyone. They threatened me, saying, 'We will get you fired from the bank.' I experienced hundreds of things I cannot explain; I wasn't myself anyway. I already see a few nonsensical statements I made during that period, and I had a few papers."

"I WAS WRITING ON PIECES OF PAPER"

"I am looking at those papers now; the indictment was secret for 7 months, I always wanted to see these things, I mean, they were nonsensical things produced in my head, I had to give them at that time, but to all the people, I mean, they wanted pieces of paper, I was writing on pieces of paper. Because this was to say, 'I owe you your money.' I was writing on this piece of paper. They wanted messages, I was answering them as messages. My goal there was to say I will pay this money to you; I mean, there was nothing I hadn't paid until today, there was no promise I hadn't kept, and I didn't want to remain in debt to anyone."

"NO ONE BELIEVED"

"I already had to give everything that was written during that period. I didn't have an elder to turn to. I realized I couldn't do the math, and there were people I wanted to help me when I wanted to complete it, but instead of these people helping me, I fell into an even worse spiral. 'No, you're not telling us the truth, there is such a thing. You are sharing this money with the bank's top executives. You took it abroad. You bought it with the Arabs,' and incredible scenarios like this started to be produced."

News Source: 12punto