Bribery operation conducted at Istanbul’s Maltepe Municipality

ISTANBUL

Arrest warrants have been issued for 18 suspects, including 10 public workers, within an investigation launched into Istanbul’s Maltepe Municipality for “bribery.”

According to Demirören News Agency, among the 16 suspects detained are two former mayor deputies and a former land registry office director. The search for the other two suspects was ongoing when the daily went to print late on May 20.

It is alleged that the officers took bribes to give reconstruction permits to some landowners inside the municipality borders.

One other charge against the suspect is “forgery of official documents,” the agency reported.

The bribery operation is the second in a week.

On May 17, detention warrants were issued for more than 220 suspects, including officers of Istanbul’s Kadıköy Municipality, as part of a judicial investigation into an alleged bribery scheme.

Around 200 of the 224 suspects were detained by police in Istanbul, the northwestern province of Kocaeli, the Aegean province of İzmir, the southern province of Adana and the southeastern province of Şırnak.