Istanbul (AFP) – A Turkish court on Friday jailed two journalists pending trial for allegedly spreading misinformation over a sprawling investment fund scandal, while another two were granted conditional release, media reports said. Turkey has been grappling with the fallout from an investment fund scandal which erupted in mid-September, prompting an investigation into allegations of widespread market manipulation. The scandal has put pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP, with one senior party official resigning after allegations about her investment activities.
The main opposition Yeni Parti on Thursday questioned whether two ministers had profited from investing in the suspect funds. Trade Minister Omer Bolat and Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas have denied any wrongdoing. All four journalists were hauled in on Friday over content that also raised questions about the involvement of senior AKP figures. The court ordered Mustafa Balci of the pro-opposition Sozcu daily, and Saban Sevinc of the online news channel Bizim TV, to be jailed pending trial for posting an image on X suggesting a link between AKP spokesman Omer Celik and one of the key investment fund suspects. But the court granted conditional release to two other journalists — Ismail Saymaz and Murat Agirel from Sozcu TV who were named in a suit filed by the trade minister over a report questioning his links to the scandal.
Earlier, a top AKP official accused the opposition and the media of targeting the party with a “web of lies”. “We will absolutely not let our party and government be targeted, whether by Yeni or the journalists they paid to act as their mouthpiece,” AKP secretary general Eyyup Kadir Inan told the private NTV. “Legally, we will hold them accountable for all attacks on our party.”
The crisis erupted when several funds were unable to satisfy investor redemption demands. Regulators quickly placed seven companies that manage 131 investment funds with assets reportedly worth some $17 billion into liquidation. More than 455,000 individual investors have been affected, regulators say. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said investigators found 214 individuals and legal entities had earned a total of 187.6 billion lira ($3.8 billion) through funds managed by three firms: Tera, Pusula, and Hedef.
Those who had invested in funds managed by Tera had earned record profits over 90 billion lira, he told Sabah newspaper. He said investigators were looking into those who sold shares in the days before the crisis hit the headlines, who had “exited the funds with prior knowledge and based on information provided to them”. Prosecutors sent a list of names to the TMSF deposit insurance fund “which has started officially notifying the individuals about the return of the money” to a voluntary restitution account run by the regulator, he said. It was not clear whether they would face prosecution.
Meanwhile, AKP on Friday submitted a bill to parliament about fund liquidation and investor repayments, but there was no immediate word on when lawmakers would vote on it. The two ministers whose investments were questioned hit back with legal action, with Bolat suing the two Sozcu journalists and Goktas filing suit against three Yeni lawmakers for slander. She also vowed to pursue “media outlets that spread these allegations”. “Ozgur Ozel and his colleagues will pay the price for these lies and slanders,” AKP’s Inan warned, referring to the main opposition leader who heads the Yeni Parti.
© 2024 AFP
