Ahbap Association’s TL 44 million was first converted into about $1 million and then into physical gold, according to the investigation. Association Chairperson Haluk Levent was authorized to collect the dollars from a foreign exchange office and the gold from a jeweler, as well as to keep the key to the bank safe where the assets were to be stored. When the safe was opened, however, it was found to contain medicine and a book.
As part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into the Ahbap Association, in which 35 suspects, including the association’s founder and singer Haluk Levent, were arrested, prosecutors examined three consecutive decisions adopted by the association’s board of directors in January.
According to the findings, the board decided to rent a bank safe in the association’s name to ensure the security of its financial assets and to safely store physical assets such as gold and securities.
The board decided the safe would be used solely to protect the association’s financial assets and that its contents would be checked periodically, with the results submitted to the board of directors. It also authorized Levent to sign the safe rental agreement, receive the key and carry out the relevant banking transactions.
To protect the association’s financial assets, prevent losses in value and preserve its resources against inflation, the board decided to convert 44 million liras held in its bank account into foreign currency and use it to purchase physical gold.
According to the investigation, 44 million liras was transferred from the association’s account to a foreign exchange company, where $1,012,970 was purchased under market conditions. The dollars were then used to purchase physical gold.
The association’s decision required the gold purchase to be documented with an invoice and delivery receipt. The type, purity, weight, unit price and total value of the gold were to be determined according to market conditions on the purchase date. The board unanimously authorized Levent to oversee the currency and gold purchases, obtain the relevant documents, take delivery of the assets and record them in the association’s accounts.
The purchased gold was to be stored in a bank safe rented in the association’s name. Access to the safe and removal of items from it were to be allowed only with a board decision, while personal use of the safe was prohibited. Levent was authorized to oversee the purchase, delivery, placement in the safe and accounting of the gold.
The board also decided that the gold would be stored in a safe at a bank’s Feriköy branch in Istanbul.
Prosecutors examining the transactions found that the description accompanying the transfer from the association’s bank account to the currency exchange company for the purchase of dollars read, “$1 million payment received in cash for Gaza.”
According to documents in the case file, an official from the currency exchange company said Levent had contacted the company to purchase dollars on behalf of Ahbap. After Turkish liras were transferred from the association’s bank account, the equivalent amount in dollars was handed over to Levent in cash. The transactions were conducted under security camera surveillance, the official said.
Documents added to the case file showed that $1,012,970 was transferred from Ahbap’s account to a company operating in the precious metals sector. According to an invoice and bank receipt in the file, 6,500 grams of gold were purchased with the money. Levent carried out the transaction on behalf of the association, according to the investigation.
Investigators then opened the rented bank safe on Aug. 6 in the presence of a police officer, a jewelry expert and two lawyers serving on the trusteeship board overseeing the association’s assets. They found a box of Tylolhot, a box of vitamin pills, two boxes of medicine and a book inside.
The investigation into the whereabouts of the association’s TL 44 million, the $1,012,970 obtained with those funds and the 6,500 grams of gold reportedly purchased with the dollars is ongoing.
The moment investigators opened the bank safe was also recorded on camera.
