Earthquake in Ankara: Erdoğan under atomic pressure - hundreds of thousands of Turks fear they will lose everything
A massive financial fraud scandal is shaking Turkey: 11 more suspects have been arrested, including a former deputy governor of the central bank. Authorities have frozen assets worth hundreds of millions of liras, and there are fears that about 455,000 investors may be affected. The Istanbul stock exchange index fell by six percent, and trading in 131 funds has been suspended.
A massive financial fraud scandal is shaking Turkey, putting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan under heavy pressure. 11 more suspects have been arrested in the case, including a former deputy governor of the central bank. The investigation, which became public on September 14 with the arrest of the chairman of the company "Fusola," gained momentum after several funds failed to meet their obligations to investors. Two days later, on September 16, the flagship index of the Istanbul stock exchange fell by six percent. In response, the Turkish Ministry of Finance convened the Financial Stability Committee, which attributed the situation to liquidity and credit difficulties. As part of emergency measures, the Turkish Capital Markets Board suspended trading in 131 funds managed by seven different companies and appointed two central banks to oversee their liquidation proceedings. As of mid-September, these funds managed assets worth more than 800 billion Turkish liras belonging to about 455,000 different investors. The Financial Crimes Investigation Board froze approximately 387.5 million liras in the funds' accounts, along with assets worth about 750 million liras (about $15.3 million) in seizure proceedings. Criminal complaints have been filed on suspicion of market manipulation, and authorities are examining movements in bank and crypto accounts of senior officials at the suspect companies, as well as tracing money transfers abroad.