Istanbul’s arrested mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu, a popular figure in the corruption-tainted main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), faces a thick indictment into his wrongdoings. The details in the 3,809-page indictment unfolded last week and this week. “The Imamoğlu Criminal Organization,” as prosecutors describe, dramatically boosted their fortune, prosecutors say.
Along with the mayor, his close associates at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) thrived on bribes and converted them into tens of properties, from villas to valuable land in Türkiye’s financial hub.
Prosecutors accuse suspects of inflicting a “public expense loss” amounting to TL 161 billion ($3.8 billion) through bribes. A total of 402 suspects are indicted in the case, including 105 who were remanded in custody. Imamoğlu is among them.
The lengthy indictment, as reported by the Sabah newspaper, demonstrates that the criminal organization founded a “system” or some sort of bribery pool to share the illicit gains and, through intricate but shady practices, propelled their wealth.
Fatih Keleş, head of IBB’s Sports Club and a close associate of Imamoğlu, is among them. Keleş is registered as the owner of a marble factory, which curiously had no sales at all in 2023, though it suddenly earned more than TL 368 million in sales in 2024. The most striking finding regarding the sales is that all items were sold to a company whose partner was Murat Gülibrahimoğlu, a businessman who had close business ties with IBB. Gülibrahimoğlu acted as a “coffer” of the criminal organization, prosecutors say, and was reportedly registered as the owner of companies that in fact belonged to Imamoğlu and Keleş.
Gülibrahimoğlu, who is currently at large, had only three title deeds in his possession before 2021, but that year (the third year of Imamoğlu as Istanbul’s mayor) and in the following years, he apparently amassed a fortune, obtaining title deeds to 52 properties and ownership of 66 vehicles.
Murat Ongun, a former journalist who served as IBB’s spokesperson after Imamoğlu’s election, multiplied his fortune after 2019, prosecutors say, pointing to the purchase of a residence, four separate plots of land, an orchard and an agricultural field, though he only had an olive orchard and an empty plot before that year.
Ertan Yıldız, who chaired a committee of IBB in charge of municipalities’ subsidiaries, also added to his list of property ownerships a new apartment, three houses, a villa and four plots of land.
Adem Soytekin, who rose in the business world thanks to his ties to a construction company owned by Imamoğlu’s family, also amassed wealth, especially in 2024. Prosecutors say he received more than TL 1.6 billion in his bank account that year and wired TL 1.5 billion. Soytekin was also awarded tenders by the municipality of Beylikdüzü (an Istanbul district Imamoğlu served as a mayor in the past) and by a subsidiary of IBB.
The indictment seeks 2,430 years for Imamoğlu for a variety of criminal charges, including using public funds for a potential presidential bid.
The suspects face charges related to 143 separate criminal acts, including “establishing and leading a criminal organization,” “membership in a criminal organization,” “bribery,” “embezzlement,” “fraud against public institutions,” “money laundering,” “violations of the Tax Procedure Law,” “illegal data collection and dissemination,” “environmental pollution,” “public property damage” and “violations of the Forest and Mining Laws.”
The indictment named 99 individuals as members of the organization, with Imamoğlu identified as its founder and ringleader. Other figures, including Keleş, Ongun, Yıldız, Gülibrahimoğlu, Soytekin and Hüseyin Gün, were listed as senior administrators within the group.
It said that 92 additional suspects were identified as members of the organization, while the remaining defendants were accused of committing crimes connected to the group’s activities.
The indictment alleges that Imamoğlu personally committed several crimes, including “forming a criminal organization,” “bribery” on 12 counts, “money laundering” on seven counts and “fraud against public institutions” on seven counts.
Although municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were already under investigation and several mayors had been detained for corruption last year, the IBB has been under the spotlight, as its high-profile mayor was arrested in March, shortly before the CHP announced him as a future presidential candidate.
Digging deeper into an alleged criminal network run by Imamoğlu and expanding another investigation linked to a businessperson whom the district municipalities had awarded lucrative contracts, investigators launched further operations, arresting municipal bureaucrats and other mayors.
