An employee of Yapı Kredi bank has sold the personal information of 2,484 people to third parties, Turkey's Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) said in a statement late Thursday.

According to the statement, the citizenship identification numbers, names, phone numbers, addresses, credit risk assessment information and other data belonging to the customers have been compromised.

The KVKK also said in the statement that the employee abused his authority to check on the intelligence records of the customers to obtain the data.

An investigation launched into the incident showed that the violation took place on April 5.

KVKK added that Yapı Kredi bank has been ordered to publish an announcement on its website to let its customers know about the risks associated with the incident.

The Milan-based Unicredit bank has been invested in Yapı Kredi since 2002 when it entered the joint venture with Koç Holding in what became the first foreign partnership in Turkey's financial services industry.

Last year, UniCredit further cut its stake in Yapı Kredi.