Özkan Yalım, mayor of the western city of Uşak, who was arrested earlier this week in a corruption probe, reportedly used municipal funds to pay for the staff of his private company, a report by the Sabah newspaper says.
The report published on Wednesday says Yalım, a mayor for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), forged the recruitment of the staff of a nightclub he owned as “municipal personnel” and paid them wages from the municipal budget. A secret eyewitness testifying against Yalım also claimed that Yalım received a luxury vehicle as a bribe for awarding a tender, and the said vehicle was allocated for the use of the CHP Chair Özgür Özel.
Yalım was arrested on March 27, on charges of bribery and tender rigging in a well-publicized police raid where he was photographed staying in a hotel room in the capital Ankara with his mistress. The CHP branded the arrest as politically motivated, but later suspended the mayor’s party membership. Along with Yalım, nine other suspects were arrested in the investigation into the corruption at the Uşak municipality.
The Sabah report says the investigation found out that people originally employed by a nightclub and a hotel were added to the municipality’s staff roster, and their insurance premiums were paid by the municipality while they were working at Yalım’s companies in reality.
A part of the investigation is based on a report by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), and it found that Yalım made huge payments to A.A., allegedly another mistress of the mayor, while the mayor’s former chauffeur told investigators that ownership of Yalım’s companies was transferred to him to avoid financial inspection. The Sabah report said Yalım was also involved in the collection of “donations” for a local sports club from businesspeople and the donations amounting to TL 250 million ($5.62 million) were not officially billed. Another accusation the mayor faces is asking for a bribe of TL 20 million from the city’s biggest mall, and when the mall owner rejected, the municipality sealed off the place.
