They sent paving stones to China instead of copper worth 36 million dollars! 'Materials may have been changed at sea'

In Istanbul, the trial of 16 defendants continued in the case filed with the allegation that paving stones were placed in containers instead of 10 thousand tons of pure copper worth 36 million dollars, which was purchased by a Swiss-based company to be sent to its factory in China.

One undetained defendant and the lawyers of the parties attended the hearing of the case held at Bakırköy 7th High Criminal Court.

Arrested defendant Çağrı Koçoğlu, who made his defense, said, "I came to all the courts. I do not accept the accusations made against me. I demand my acquittal." The defendant's lawyers stated that there were witnesses in the case who had not been heard yet and requested that these people be heard. Lawyers also suggested that the materials may have been altered by officers at sea or the complainants. The complainant's lawyers stated that no investigation was carried out in China regarding the incident, and that there was only a notary report stating that paving stones were sent instead of copper. Lawyers demanded that a decision be made to forcibly bring in the witnesses who were not heard.

OPINION ON THE MAINS HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

Explaining his opinion on the merits at the hearing, the Prosecutor stated that in 8 separate shipments made by Bietsan Copper Rice Industry Trade and Joint Stock Company to China, a total of 326 containers were sent to the buyer company Mercuria instead of copper ingots. In the opinion on the merits, it was stated that it was proven by the evidence in the file that the defendants gained unfair advantage by replacing the copper in the containers with paving stones and collecting 32 million 400 thousand dollars, corresponding to 90 percent of the export price, within the scope of the contract for the shipment of copper ingots worth 36 million dollars.

The prosecutor's office evaluated that the actions did not carry the elements of chain of command and continuity within the scope of organizational activities. For this reason, he requested that the defendants be acquitted separately on the charges of 'establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime', 'being a member of an organization and aiding an organisation'. In the opinion, it was also requested that the defendants be acquitted of the crime of 'forgery of private documents' since the originals of the allegedly fake documents could not be obtained.

REQUEST FOR UP TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR 10 DEFENDANTS

In the opinion on the merits, it was emphasized that it was established that the detained defendants Hasan Kayacıköse, Sinan Çokyiğit, Başak Yeşilbaş, Bora İbiş, Çağrı Koçoğlu, Muammer Karaman, Orhan Mollaoğlu, Ramazan Öner, Tayfun Gıcır and Vedat Ulusoy, acting in unity of thought and action, defrauded the company and cooperative managers. The prosecutor's office requested that the 10 defendants be punished separately with imprisonment from 3 to 10 years for the crime of 'Qualified fraud'.

THE HEARING HAS BEEN POSTPONED