Trustee could not manage nightclubs and taverns: A report by Müyesser Yıldız

Following a letter from the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) stating that “there are many difficulties in managing casinos, nightclubs, taverns, and establishments serving alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages,” the Court converted the management trusteeship of 9 companies of this nature into supervisory trusteeship. Meanwhile, it was decided that the detention of the two imprisoned defendants in the case, Bora Kaplan and Fethi Koyuncu, would continue.

It was observed that the presiding judge changed for the third time during yesterday's session of the case, which is being heard by the Ankara 77th Criminal Court of First Instance at the Sincan Prison complex.

For this reason, the Judge asked the defendants for their statements regarding the information and documents that had arrived in the file, stating that they could make brief defenses.

Kaplan, who had previously stated that he would not establish a SEGBİS connection if his request to be brought to the courtroom was not accepted, sent an excuse and did not attend this session either.

FORMER AKP DEFENDANT: THE TRUSTEE BANKRUPTED MY COMPANY

The complaints of the defendants and their lawyers regarding the trusteeship practice left their mark on today's session.

The first defendant to make a statement was Barış Kurt, a former AKP Ankara Provincial Vice Chairman and Çankaya Municipal Council Member. Addressing the Presiding Judge, he said, “We are meeting for the first time. I have been waiting for you for three months,” and continued:

“I am a map engineer, and my company is related to this. But a banker trustee was appointed. All my contracts were terminated, and my company went bankrupt. I founded this company in 2013. There is no Bora Kaplan or any alleged organization involved. My property, which I acquired in 2003, and my inheritance from my father were seized. I am hungry, I am hungry. I cannot explain my troubles to anyone. I haven't been able to pay off my loan for 21 months, and I cannot cope with the accrued interest. I am drowning in interest. A 15 million loan debt has become 50 million. Interest is being demanded on the income tax of rent I did not even receive. I have qualified for retirement, but I cannot exercise this right because I have a Bağkur debt. Why doesn't the trustee pay the Bağkur debt? I used to laugh while watching Kemal Sunal movies. I am in no different state than Kemal Sunal.”

His lawyer also emphasized that although a decision was made in the previous session to lift the attachment on retirement pensions, Barış Kurt has not been receiving his salary due to the unpaid Bağkur debt, and requested that a formal letter be written on this matter.

EXPERT WITNESS REQUESTED 3 MORE MONTHS

Bora Kaplan's lawyers stated that a new expert report was requested after it was revealed that the MASAK report was full of errors, but that this report had not arrived even though 5.5 months had passed, and that the expert had requested an additional 3 months. They said, “We do not believe in a session held before this report arrives. A trustee cannot be applied based on that MASAK report, and Bora Kaplan cannot remain in detention.”

CAR UNDER TRUSTEESHIP WAS STOLEN

Defendant Erhan Arslan said his only crime was working for Ersoy Yahya and that he had not been able to receive his retirement pension despite the court's decision.

The lawyer for defendant Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu also alleged that his client's car, which was under trusteeship, had been stolen.

The lawyer for the second imprisoned defendant, Fethi Koyuncu, stated that his client had been acquitted of most of the charges in the organization file and said, “If the allegations there are being made the subject of charges, the favorable decisions must also be taken into account.”

Hıncal Alper Tansu, the owner of Güney Restaurant, stated that he had spent 19 months in prison and 9 months under house arrest because he bought the place from Bora Kaplan, while his lawyer, Eren Turan, said, “At this rate, even if they are acquitted, there will be no property left to return.”

50 MILLION IN SALARIES TO TMSF

Defendant Ozan Can Yıldız also complained about the trustee management and said the following:

“My three companies, which carry out important projects for the state, were seized. The monthly cost of the TMSF to us, including cars and business-class flight tickets, is 2 million. To date, I have paid 50 million in salaries to the TMSF. For the first time last month, we could not pay the staff's salaries, but they took their attendance fees from the incoming money. When I said, ‘There are people in difficult situations, isn't it a shame?’, they replied, ‘Are we going to ask you?’ They had said at the police station, ‘We will finish you,’ and they really did finish us.”

TMSF'S LETTER

Meanwhile, it emerged that upon the requests of the defendants and their lawyers in previous sessions to either completely remove the trustee or convert the management trustee into a supervisory trustee, the Court wrote a letter to the TMSF on May 9 asking about the status of the seized companies, and the TMSF gave a remarkable response on May 15.

In the response sent by the TMSF as a result of “opinions and evaluations received from the Chairmanships of the Board of Directors/Managers of the Bora Kaplan Group,” it was summarized as follows:

“It has been determined that some of the companies have fields of activity defined as casinos, nightclubs, taverns, discotheques, cocktail lounges, and the serving of alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages (some have night operating licenses until 01:00, some until 05:00), that these businesses are subject to inspections by Police Department teams constantly and by the nature of the business due to their fields of activity, that although necessary measures are taken within the framework of the duties given to the TMSF by the Court decision to ensure that company activities are not disrupted, the corporate identity of the TMSF and the fact that the appointed board/manager members are public personnel bring many difficulties considering both the field of activity and the working hours of night businesses, that the institution of supervisory trusteeship is executed within the scope of the duties given to the TMSF by the Courts and legal legislation, in accordance with the field of activity and nature of the work of the relevant company/firm, by applying measures such as ensuring the compliance of goods/services purchases and sales with current market values, ensuring that transactions are not carried out off the books, ensuring that decisions made and transactions performed by the company management are in accordance with legal legislation, and in this context, making the validity of the company management's decisions and signatures subject to the written approval of the supervisory trustees when necessary, and that the discretion and evaluation regarding the requests for the removal of the trusteeship decision or the transition to supervisory trusteeship lie with the investigation and prosecution authorities...”

Following these findings, the TMSF made the following proposal for 9 of the 36 companies under trusteeship, “whose field of activity is casino, nightclub, tavern, discotheque, cocktail lounge, and serving of alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages,” with the final decision belonging to the Court:

“It is evaluated that due to the managerial difficulties experienced within the scope of the management trusteeship duty given to the Fund, the financial, commercial, and financial audit (audit of account movements and payments) expected by the judicial authority can be fulfilled through ‘supervisory trusteeship,’ where the validity of the decisions and transactions of the management body is made subject to the approval of the trustee.”

WILL DECISIONS BE MADE ACCORDING TO THE TRUSTEE'S SLEEPING HOURS?

After the statements of the defendants and their lawyers were completed, the Prosecutor, who was asked for his opinion, expressed his view that the detention of the imprisoned defendants and the judicial control measures of the other defendants should continue, while requesting that the management trusteeship of the companies in the entertainment sector be converted into supervisory trusteeship, taking into account the evaluation in that letter from the TMSF.

While the statements of the defendants and their lawyers were being taken against the Prosecutor's opinion, one lawyer reacted by saying, “What, are we going to make decisions according to the trustee's sleeping hours?”, while another lawyer said, “If the measure is to be lifted, it should be lifted for all of them. If it is to remain, it should remain for all of them.”

After the break, the Judge announced the decision that the detention of Bora Kaplan and Fethi Koyuncu would continue, that the judicial control measures in the form of signing for the non-detained defendants would be lifted while the travel ban would continue, and that the management trusteeship of the companies in the entertainment sector would be converted into supervisory trusteeship, the attachment on retirement pensions would be lifted, and a letter would be written to the SSK regarding Barış Kurt's Bağkur debt.

The hearing was adjourned to September 23.

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 20, 2025

News Source: 12punto