A court has ordered the takeover of a university by trustees it appointed as part of an investigation into its links with the shady Gülen Movement.

The foundation that runs the Melikşah University in the central city of Kayseri will be taken over by a board of trustees following allegations that its original board committed fraud. The board was accused of forcing locals to hand over their land for the use of the university through threats. Thirty suspects that served on the board at different times face charges of organized crime. The foundation is a front to finance the Gülen Movement or its offshoot the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETÖ), which was behind two coup attempts in 2013, according to prosecutors.

Melikşah University, among about a dozen universities linked to Gülenists, has been mired in fraud allegations, especially for buying land for cheap prices or the illegal takeover of properties through fraud.