49 suspects were referred to the courthouse in the 'Friends criminal organization' investigation in Istanbul

Within the scope of the "Friends' criminal organization" investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the procedures of the 49 suspects who were detained by the Istanbul Police Department Financial Crimes Branch teams were completed.

After the health check, the suspects were taken to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. Of the suspects whose statements were taken at the prosecutor's office, 20 were referred to the criminal judgeship of peace with a request for arrest, 8 for "house arrest" and 21 for judicial control in the form of "signing" and "ban on leaving the country". The suspects are expected to begin their proceedings at the judge's office.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Within the scope of the investigation, an investigation was launched into the fate of the donations collected through the Buddy Association following the earthquakes on February 6, 2023. The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office announced that as a result of examining the inspector and special audit reports of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the association's inventory and financial records, bank movements, suspect statements and other evidence, it was determined that a large number of materials, including tents, wheelchairs, electric bicycles and stationery products collected for earthquake victims in the warehouses in Izmit, were left to rot.

In the investigation, it was determined that 4.3 billion liras of donations were collected for the association between February 6 and December 31, 2023, and 4.2 billion liras of this was spent. It was reported that 950 million liras of the collected donations were withdrawn in cash between 13 February and 25 May 2023, one of the transactions was 500 million liras at a time, over 2 billion liras were used in housing projects, and over 1 billion liras were used in the purchase of goods and services.