Tahir Sarıkaya’s prosecutor testimony revealed: He said he received a 100,000 TL ‘scholarship’ from Haluk Levent

Details regarding the prosecutor testimony of journalist Tahir Sarıkaya, who was arrested for "blackmail" as part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into journalist Cem Küçük, have emerged.

It was stated that in his testimony, Sarıkaya admitted to receiving money 21 times from Fatih Eke and 64 times from Serdar Özyurt; he claimed these payments were made within the scope of advertising, promotion, and social media posts.

Regarding the question in the investigation file about the detection of a total of 27 million 569 thousand liras in movement across 320 transactions in his crypto account, it was reported that Sarıkaya replied, "I do not accept this amount." Sarıkaya argued that he used the crypto account because "interest is forbidden (haram)" and that the transactions did not involve money laundering.

RESPONSE TO THE HALUK LEVENT QUESTION

In his testimony, Sarıkaya was also asked questions about his relationship with Haluk Levent. It was learned that Sarıkaya stated he had no direct money exchange with Haluk Levent and did not earn any profit from Nigella Coin.

Regarding the question of whether he received money from Haluk Levent, it was noted that Sarıkaya responded by stating he received a 100,000 lira "scholarship" for his son's school expenses. Sarıkaya also stated that he did not manage Haluk Levent's PR work and did not launder his money.

It was stated that Sarıkaya described the money received from Fatih Eke as payment for attending an organization held in Bebek as a journalist. It was also reported that he said he received payments due to advertisements and social media posts regarding the Nigella product.

Stating that he produced news and social media posts about Serdar Özyurt, Sarıkaya argued that the money sent to his account was in exchange for promotional and PR activities on social media. He claimed that he used this money for the stock market or his family's living expenses and did not launder it through a cryptocurrency account.

It was also stated that Sarıkaya said he has known Cem Küçük since 2015 and that they have worked on programs together during different periods. It was learned that Sarıkaya, who admitted there was a money exchange between him and Küçük, stated that this was due to debts and program payments.

In his testimony, it was reported that Sarıkaya said, "I did not send money in exchange for tweeting or making news"; however, he later said that he might have made payments for openings and programs they attended together with Cem Küçük.

Stating that he had more than 300 money exchanges with İsmail Çanak, who is also mentioned in the file, Sarıkaya linked these movements to family relations, cash payments, and events he attended as a speaker. Sarıkaya said he did not know who Çanak received the money in question from.

News Source: 12punto