Istanbul's Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday prepared an indictment about 402 suspects, 105 of whom have been arrested, within the scope of the investigation into the crime network allegedly linked to former Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, which could mean a sentence of over 2,000 years in prison for the politician.
According to the statement released by the prosecutor’s office, the organized crime investigation bureau has prepared the indictment, which involves 105 suspects currently under arrest, 170 under judicial control and seven with outstanding arrest warrants. Additionally, five individuals were listed as “complainant-suspects” under judicial control.
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 Fatih Keleş, Murat Ongun, Ertan Yıldız, Murat Gülibrahimoğlu, Adem 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.
As the alleged leader, he is also held responsible for offenses committed within the organization’s framework, ranging from “bribery,” “extortion” and “tender rigging” to “environmental pollution” and “disseminating misleading information.”
The statement noted that investigations are still ongoing against certain suspects.
Imamoğlu is at the heart of an array of accusations focusing on what prosecutors call a “criminal network” that he led. The network at the IBB reportedly took bribes from businesspeople in exchange for permits issued by the municipality.
Some suspects who collaborated with authorities as part of a plea deal claimed Imamoğlu sought to fund his campaign for the presidency through bribes.
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, rounding up municipal bureaucrats and other mayors.
