Türkiye has begun paying interim amounts to investors in funds that are being liquidated following a scandal last month, media reports said Friday.
About TL 29.3 billion (around $590 million) was set to be deposited into fund holders' accounts as of Friday, private broadcasters CNBC-e and Bloomberg HT said.
The payments cover 235,705 investors in seven funds run by three portfolio management companies: Atlas, Pusula and Tera.
The payments follow a law that Parliament passed this month and that establishes a framework for repayments, with payments adjusted for inflation and interim payouts of up to TL 1 million.
The scandal in September prompted authorities to order the liquidation of more than 130 investment funds that authorities suspect were manipulated and inflated in price.
Nearly half a million investors held stakes in the funds. Prosecutors have arrested more than 80 people in the investigation into suspected market manipulation.
Reports on Friday said seven funds were being wound down under the "extraordinary" liquidation procedure created for the cases of the three companies.
Interim payments were to begin with money market funds and proceed from the smallest unit holder to the largest. The order is meant to ensure the greatest possible number of investors receive payments.
Under "ordinary" liquidation, TL 68 billion was paid to 63,759 investors in 93 funds run by A1 Capital, Bulls, Pardus and Hedef Portföy, the report said.
Adding the new payments, TL 97.3 billion has been paid or is due across all liquidations to 299,464 investors in 100 funds.
