Bank accused of convincing Erzan for testimony in high profile scam case

ISTANBUL

In a widely covered case in which numerous Turkish football stars were allegedly defrauded, some of the victims have filed a criminal complaint against the bank accused of delaying reporting the location of the main suspect, the bank manager, to the authorities in order to persuade her to testify in favor of the institution.

The trial of Denizbank branch manager Seçil Erzan, alongside six others, accused of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme under the guise of a supposedly lucrative "secret fund," bilking a total of $44 million and 15 million Turkish Liras from 29 individuals has been dominating the country's agenda for weeks.

Among the 10 individuals implicated in the complaint, including managers Hakan Ateş and Sermin Tekin, several other bank executives and a bank security officer, it is alleged that they withheld Erzan’s location for three days to compel her to provide a statement in favor of the bank.

The complaint further contended that they engaged in actions such as fabricating false evidence, deleting records from the suspect's phone and breaking the phone, all aimed at obstructing the legal accountability of the top-level bank management.

According to the filed petition, Denizbank lawyers submitted a complaint to the prosecutor's office on April 7, requesting Erzan's detention. However, on April 8, upon learning Erzan was at her mother's house in the neighboring province of Tekirdağ, rather than sharing this information with the authorities or law enforcement, the bank officials reached her.

After locating Erzan, the bank management allegedly instructed regional director Tekin to establish contact with her. During a three-hour meeting, Tekin reportedly attempted to persuade Erzan to come to the bank's headquarters. According to the Bank Inspection Board report, Erzan was interrogated for a staggering 12 hours.

In Erzan's testimony to the prosecutor, she also alleged that the bank officials pressured her to provide a statement favoring the bank, “warning that her life would be over if the incident was considered embezzlement.”

Furthermore, she claimed that Ateş, present during the interrogation, assured her protection, legal representation, and coverage of her mother's health insurance if she claimed the incident occurred outside the bank.

The bank previously denied responsibility for the incident and financial losses of the victims.

Meanwhile, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, addressing the scandal for the first time after weeks of being headlines, emphasized that the investigation is ongoing, and everyone involved will inevitably face the consequences.

“Türkiye is a state of law and whoever commits unlawful acts will be punished," Erdoğan said.

"Our citizens should not fall into the traps of fraudsters who offer high profits in a short time with the promise of easy money," he added.

Istanbul prosecutors are seeking over 200 years in prison for Erzan for allegedly organizing the scam.