About a month before the fund crisis came to the public agenda, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requested information and documents from the Capital Markets Board due to unusual transactions in some funds and shares. CMB decided to liquidate some investment funds on September 17.
The fund investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding transactions in the capital markets extended from former Central Bank managers to ministerial and CMB staff.
On September 25, 8 days after the liquidation decision, former Central Bank Deputy Governor Erkan Kilimci was arrested. The joint decision regarding the appointment of Kilimci to this position was published in the Official Gazette dated May 13, with the signature of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
SEASONAL ARRESTS IN OCTOBER
Former Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Mustafa Aksu, was arrested by the Istanbul 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on October 12. The decision signed by Erdoğan, appointing Aksu as deputy minister, was published in the Official Gazette dated 9 August 2018. Taha Çakmak, former General Manager of Türkiye Sigorta and Türkiye Hayat Emeklilik, was arrested on October 24.
Çakmak was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank with the decision signed by Erdoğan and published in the Official Gazette dated October 14, 2021. Çakmak took over the position of general manager of the two companies on August 3, 2023. Türkiye Sigorta notified KAP that Çakmak resigned from the general manager position as of October 15, 2026.
One day after Çakmak's arrest, on October 25, former AKP Ankara Deputy Ertan Aydın was also arrested. According to his CV in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Aydın started working as the chief advisor of the then Prime Minister Erdoğan in charge of political affairs in 2012. Aydin, for whom a judicial control order was initially issued during the investigation, was detained again upon the objection of the prosecutor's office and was arrested by the judgeship to which he was brought.
KAYA'S APPOINTMENT CERTIFICATES ARE A DOUBLE NUMBER
Former Minister of Family and Social Policies Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya was arrested on November 5. Kaya was appointed to the ministry by Erdoğan upon the recommendation of then Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım.
The appointment memorandum bearing Erdoğan's signature was published in the Official Gazette dated 24 May 2016. Kaya was listed as the Minister of Family and Social Policies in the list attached to the memorandum, which was also included in the minutes of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Former CMB Chairman İbrahim Ömer Gönül, whose statement was taken in the same investigation, was released under judicial control.
THEY WERE APPOINTED ON THE SAME DAY, DIFFERENT DECISIONS WERE MADE ABOUT THEM
Former CMB Deputy Chairman Enver Usca was arrested on charges of 'bribery' on November 7. Usca was appointed to replace the dismissed Mutalip Ünal, with the decision signed by Erdoğan published in the Official Gazette dated October 31, 2022.
Former CMB department head Ercan Urkan and BRSA Implementation IV Department Head Mustafa Alper Taş were also arrested on the same charge. Bülent Murat Haholu, who was appointed as a CMB Board member on the same day as Usca, was released after his statement at the prosecutor's office.
ERDOĞAN ALSO APPOINTED ARINCI
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced on November 3 that there were 433 suspects in the fund investigation and 112 people were detained. With the arrest of former Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya on November 5 and four people, including former CMB Deputy Chairman Enver Usca, on November 6, the number of detainees increased to 117.
Former Takasbank General Manager Yunus Arıncı was also detained again the previous evening. BDDK Deputy Chairman Muhammet Erişen was among the people detained within the scope of the same operation. Before Takasbank, Arıncı served as the Chairman of the State Supervisory Board (DDK).
Arıncı, who was reappointed as the President of DDK with Erdoğan's decision published on June 9, 2023, was appointed as the general manager of the bank by the decision of the Takasbank Board of Directors in June 2024. As part of the investigation, an arrest warrant was issued the previous day for Bilal Soysal, one of the heads of BRSA departments. Soysal was arrested by the judge's office after his statement at the prosecutor's office.
120 NAMES ARE ARRESTED
Finally, yesterday in the investigation, BRSA Deputy Chairman Muhammet Erişen and Adil Katılım Bank General Manager Murat Yönaç were arrested by the criminal judgeship of peace to which they were referred. According to BRSA records, Erişen was acting as vice president on November 27, 2019. In the institution's record dated February 11, 2020, he was listed as vice president.
Yönaç, who left his post as BRSA vice president in January 2023, started working as general manager and board member at Adil Katılım Bank, of which he is one of the founding partners, on March 18, 2025. BRSA gave the bank an establishment permit with the decision dated 23 May 2024 and numbered 10914, and an operating permit with the decision dated 11 September 2025 and numbered 11267. With the last two arrests, the number of detainees increased to 120.
THE OPPOSITION PUT ERDOĞAN'S APPOINTMENTS ON THE AGENDA
NEW Party Chairman Özgür Özel addressed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding the fund investigation at the group meeting on November 3. "The staff appointed by Mr. Tayyip destroyed the money that the nation entrusted to the state," said Özel, and asked Erdogan whether he was aware of what happened.
Özel said that if Erdoğan is aware of the developments, he should resign, and if he is not informed, he should lead the country to elections. İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu said at the 'I Raise a Flag for Betrayal' rally held in Trabzon Atatürk Area on November 7, "The President says, 'People you never expected were involved in these affairs. People we least expected? Is that so? Your Deputy Chairman, the bureaucrats you appointed... If people you never expected were involved in this, why do you leave it to the nation? Explain who those haramzades are. Why are you hiding it? He showed his reaction.
