20 arrested in fictitious export case

Çetin Aydın ISTANBUL

DHA Photo

An Istanbul court issued arrest warrants for 20 suspects on charges of “forming an organization,” “being a member of an organization” and “smuggling within the scope of organizational activities” in the fictitious export case on March 24.

Some 25 suspects out of 39 were sent to court for arrest, while five were sent for judicial control. In addition, nine suspects were released after giving their testimony to the prosecutor, which lasted about six hours. The court also performed judicial control decisions for eight suspects.

Meanwhile, Hikmet Tanrıverdi, head of the Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter Associations (IHKIB), said the textile sector did not deserve to be labeled as a “fictitious exporter,” with its exports worth $233 billion over the last 20 years, speaking at the 18th Eurasian Economy Summit introductory meeting on March 24.

“[…] We, as the textile sector, which is the one most contributing to the recognition of the ‘Turkish brand’ around the world with its exports to over 200 countries, see being associated with fictitious exports as the severest punishment to those who achieve a phenomenal success,” Tanrıverdi said.

Istanbul’s financial crimes police department detained at least 50 suspects in simultaneous operations organized on March 20 in 16 different provinces around Turkey, including company owners and well-known figures in the textile sector along with customs officials. It has been alleged the companies caused about 750 million Turkish Liras of damage to the state by fictitiously reducing the number of imported goods in the domestic market to escape tax and value-added-tax and projecting that they exported manufactured goods with false documents.