Turkey Freezes Former Minister’s Assets Amid $26m Fund Scheme Allegations

Turkish prosecutors have taken steps to freeze the assets of a former minister and high-ranking official in the ruling party, who stepped down over the weekend amid claims she gained from an investment fund crisis. In a short statement issued late Tuesday, prosecutors said they had sent a notice to all relevant institutions regarding freezing all assets belonging to Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya. Earlier this month, Turkey was shaken by an investment fund scandal after the collapse of a scheme that officials characterized as “Ponzi-like.” In mid-September, multiple funds announced they were unable to satisfy investor redemption requests, causing the primary stock exchange in Istanbul to fall sharply. The following day, regulators moved to liquidate seven companies that held 131 investment funds, with assets reported to be worth approximately $17 billion. The Capital Markets Board (SPK) said over 455,000 individual investors were impacted. Kaya, who serves as deputy head of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP and was Turkey’s family minister from 2016 to 2018, declared her resignation late Saturday. It came after days of speculation and accusations from the primary opposition party Yeni Parti that she and her spouse had earned millions by trading shares in the funds. She denied any wrongdoing, stating she was accepting “political responsibility” so that any probe could proceed “independently, impartially.” Earlier Saturday, Yeni Parti said it was looking for clarification on claims that the couple put 63 million lira ($1.3 million) into the funds in April and sold their shares in September for about 1.3 billion lira ($26.5 million). At a news conference, the party’s Gokhan Gunaydin said it was “clear” that she had obtained insider information, and promised that the party would disclose additional names this week.