Police launch crackdown on money laundering Gülenist suspects
Members of the controversial Gülen Movement face a renewed crackdown on their illegal activities. Police yesterday launched simultaneous operations in three cities against the Gülenists, accused of money laundering and financing the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ) that originated from the movement.
Raiding the headquarters of seven companies and a nonprofit organization, police detained 33 suspects, including executives of the companies in Istanbul, the central city of Konya and the northwestern city of Kırklareli in operations focusing on the financial arm of FETÖ. Among the charges the suspects face are suspicious money trafficking between FETÖ members amounting to $15.5 million funneled from Turkey to Egypt and some Arab countries, the laundering of TL 8.7 million ($2.95 million) via Bank Asya, a Gülen-linked lender, through accounts allocated for donations of unsuspecting Gülen followers and the suspicious transfer of TL 60 million between Gülen-linked companies. Suspects are also accused of delivering illegal loans amounting to TL 4.5 million via Bank Asya to FETÖ suspects. Thirty-two other suspects remain at large.
Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that the operation was the culmination of a lengthy sting started in 2014 after a tip-off that FETÖ members would destroy documents incriminating them at a restaurant in Istanbul. Police had captured a suspect who was found in possession of a list of 3,500 people and a notebook containing suspicious money transfers. FETÖ members were subject to surveillance since then.
Fourteen suspects fled abroad before the operations. Those at large include Mustafa Ö., a high-ranking FETÖ member, a former partner of Bank Asya and a former general manager of the bank.
Gülenists are led by fugitive cleric Fethullah Gülen who is charged with running a terror organization and two coup attempts in 2013. The State Audit Board, a public sector watchdog directly answerable to the president's office, said in a recent report that there are 6,500 companies in Turkey linked to the Gülenists and says the movement has "a financial network with a turnover of $150 billion." Authorities have recently stepped up operations to cut off financial support to the organization, which is designated as "a national threat" by Ankara and listed as a terrorist organization by prosecutors.
Raiding the headquarters of seven companies and a nonprofit organization, police detained 33 suspects, including executives of the companies in Istanbul, the central city of Konya and the northwestern city of Kırklareli in operations focusing on the financial arm of FETÖ. Among the charges the suspects face are suspicious money trafficking between FETÖ members amounting to $15.5 million funneled from Turkey to Egypt and some Arab countries, the laundering of TL 8.7 million ($2.95 million) via Bank Asya, a Gülen-linked lender, through accounts allocated for donations of unsuspecting Gülen followers and the suspicious transfer of TL 60 million between Gülen-linked companies. Suspects are also accused of delivering illegal loans amounting to TL 4.5 million via Bank Asya to FETÖ suspects. Thirty-two other suspects remain at large.
Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that the operation was the culmination of a lengthy sting started in 2014 after a tip-off that FETÖ members would destroy documents incriminating them at a restaurant in Istanbul. Police had captured a suspect who was found in possession of a list of 3,500 people and a notebook containing suspicious money transfers. FETÖ members were subject to surveillance since then.
Fourteen suspects fled abroad before the operations. Those at large include Mustafa Ö., a high-ranking FETÖ member, a former partner of Bank Asya and a former general manager of the bank.
Gülenists are led by fugitive cleric Fethullah Gülen who is charged with running a terror organization and two coup attempts in 2013. The State Audit Board, a public sector watchdog directly answerable to the president's office, said in a recent report that there are 6,500 companies in Turkey linked to the Gülenists and says the movement has "a financial network with a turnover of $150 billion." Authorities have recently stepped up operations to cut off financial support to the organization, which is designated as "a national threat" by Ankara and listed as a terrorist organization by prosecutors.