It was determined that the Dude Association, of which singer Haluk Levent was the founder and manager, used billions of lira in donations collected irregularly, and many people, including Levent, were arrested and sent to prison.
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced that a 5th wave operation was carried out against the association. While detention orders were issued for 53 people in 20 provinces, it was determined that hundreds of tents, wheelchairs, electric bicycles, stationery products and various aid materials provided for earthquake victims were kept unused in the association's warehouses in Kocaeli.
"THE 5TH WAVE OPERATION WAS STARTED THIS MORNING"
Minister Gürlek used the following words in his statement:
"We do not tolerate any attempt to turn the great pain experienced by our nation in the February 6 earthquakes, the sense of solidarity of our citizens and the donations made for our earthquake victims into personal interests.
Within the scope of the investigation carried out under the coordination of our Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the fate of earthquake donations collected through the Friends Association, the 5th wave operation was launched this morning by our Istanbul Provincial Police Department.
Operation; It was carried out on the basis of the evidence obtained in line with the Ministry of Internal Affairs inspector reports, special audit reports, the financial records and inventory of the association, bank movements, expert examinations and the statements of the suspects who benefited from the provisions of effective remorse.
Between February 6 and December 31, 2023, 4.3 billion TL of donations were collected to be delivered to our earthquake victims, and 4.2 billion TL of this was spent; It was determined that 950 million TL was withdrawn in cash and one of these withdrawals was 500 million TL at once.
A total of 1 billion 757 million 547 thousand 770 TL was transferred to 29 companies and 7 private companies; It was determined that no goods or services were purchased in return for some high-amount expenses, personal benefits were gained from the transportation of aid, and some aid was delivered to public institutions less than stated in the invoices.
"OPERATIONS WERE HELD SIMULTANEOUSLY IN 20 PROVINCES"
In line with all the findings, a simultaneous operation was organized in 20 provinces centered in Istanbul to capture 53 suspects. Investigations have been initiated to determine the real commercial activities of the companies to which money transfers are made.
It was determined that hundreds of tents, wheelchairs, electric bicycles, stationery products and various aid materials provided for earthquake victims were kept unused in warehouses in Izmit. Necessary procedures have been initiated to deliver these materials to their rightful owners.
I would like to thank our Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which carried out the investigation with great sensitivity, our Istanbul Provincial Police Department, which carried out the operations successfully, and all our public officials who took part in the process.
Under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; "We will continue to use all the possibilities of the state of law with determination against the exploitation of the goodwill, helpfulness of our citizens and the spirit of solidarity of our nation."
The names for which the detention decision was made are as follows:
1.Ahmet KAPTAN, 2.Ali Suat TALAŞ, 3.Ardıl Fırat YANBAK, 4.Aytaç AĞADAĞ, 5.Aziz Tunç BATM, 6.Bayram CİNOĞLU, 7.Bülent ÇEÇEN, 8.Çağlar GÖKTAŞ, 9.Cem ALTIN, 10.Cemil YEŞİL, 11.Cengiz KARA, 12.Ceyhun ÇETİN, 13.Dilek TOKDEMİR, 14.Emre YILDIRIM, 15.Enes Can TEKİN, 16.Fatma Şahin İŞLER, 17.Feriha ÇETİN SEVİNÇ, 18.Hasan KURŞUNOĞLU, 19.Hüseyin TEKİN, 20.İbrahim ŞENEL, 21.İbrahim Talha ALKAN, 22.İsmail Tugay GÜZEL, 23.İsmail Ulaş BARDAKÇI, 24.Kadem Berker YAŞAR, 25.Kadir YARALI, 26.Kamil ZEYTİNCİ, 27.Mehmet KARAKAYA, 28.Mehmet ZEYTİNCİ, 29.Mesut ALKAN, 30.Mevlüt SARIBAŞ, 31.Muhammed Caner BAHADIR, 32.Murat KORAN, 33.Niyazi ŞİMŞEK, 34.Nurican OKTAY, 35.Rahim YURT, 36.Rahmi AKGÜN, 37.Recep ŞARLAK, 38.Rıdvan DEMİR, 39.Selami DEMİR, 40.Selçuk ASLAN, 41.Senar BAHADIR, 42.Serdar BİLECEN, 43.Songül TOSUN, 44.Şefik FERMANOĞLU, 45.Şerafettin TEKİN, 46.Tarık ALTUN, 47.Timur ÖZDEMİR, 48.Tuncer ŞİMŞEK, 49.Ünal IRMAK, 50.Vedat DEMİR, 51.Yasin MİNTAŞ, 52.Yasin TOZLU, 53.Yusuf Esat ERİŞGEN
