Esat Palazoğlu, who was on the initial list of 141 people announced in the investigation into the Pusula fund, denied the suspicions against him, stating that he suffered a serious loss in the fund. It was noted that Palazoğlu, the son-in-law of Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü—known as Cübbeli Ahmet—was not included in the list of 109 people announced by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Speaking to Sözcü columnist İsmail Saymaz, Palazoğlu admitted to investing in the fund but rejected the claim that he had received prior information and exited the fund. "I am not claiming that it is very appropriate in a religious sense. If it is wrong, then we have done wrong, so be it. But we all do these things. The funds everyone entered also provided this return. We can say we succumbed to our desires," he said.
Palazoğlu stated that he withdrew a certain amount of money from the fund on July 31 for his company's expenses, and when he wanted to withdraw money again at the end of August, he was told he needed to wait. Claiming that he had lost three-quarters of his principal as of September 16, Palazoğlu said, "I have a very serious loss."
Palazoğlu, whose assets were reported to be frozen and whose accounts were blocked as part of the investigation, said he did not know why he was considered a suspect. Stating that his withdrawal of money in July might have caused suspicion, Palazoğlu argued that it should also be noted that he could not withdraw money in the subsequent period.
Palazoğlu stated that he had applied to the prosecutor's office but his statement had not yet been taken, and made the following assessment: "They say 'everyone got news and got out,' but I have no situation of getting news and getting out. If I saw myself as that close, they would have said, 'Get out at the beginning of September, don't lose money.' They left me inside. I am the victim side."
In his statement, Palazoğlu reacted to the allegations against him with the words, "There is no profit we earned, I don't know why I am a suspect, we are in such a situation that we say thank God our money is gone. If I had received money, I would probably be inside."
Stating that the investigation also affected him in his social circle, Palazoğlu said, "They are coming from the perspective of interest sensitivity, they are saying 'Would the Hodja's son-in-law do this?'" Stating that he knows the boss of Pusula, Serdar Turhan, Palazoğlu argued that his brother Ahmet and Turhan were partners in a company, but that he had not spoken to his brothers for years.
Cübbeli Ahmet had also touched upon the fund investigation in a previous chat, saying that shares were inflated through speculation on the stock market. Ünlü had stated that he did not suffer a loss from the fund, saying, "We don't have a penny here, we didn't lose anything."
News Source: 12punto
