Charity heads handed prison term for fraud

ISTANBUL

Some members of the Foundation for Children with Leukemia (LÖSEV) were sentenced to prison term over ‘misuse of trust’ in a Kurban holiday fraud case. AA photo

Heads of Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse) and LÖSEV (Foundation for Children with Leukemia) charities and the former head of the soldiers’ charity foundation will all be serving time in prison over a recent fraud case involving the Kurban holiday of 2009, Anatolia news agency reported. 

Ankara’s 26th Court had ordered the arrest of 11 people connected to charities on fraud allegations, a year after the Kurban Bayram holiday of 2009. According to the allegations, MAY-ET, based in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, was hired by the Lighthouse Foundation, the Mehmetçik Foundation and LÖSEV to slaughter 150,000 animals but never completed the task. 

Misuse of trust 

The foundations were acting as the representatives of people who donated money to them to carry out animal sacrifices in their name as part of the Muslim holiday.

The former head of Mehmetçik Foundation, Salih Güloğlu, and LÖSEV head Üstün Ezer, were sentenced to five years in prison over “misuse of trust”, while Lighthouse head Mehmet Cengiz received a two-year sentence. 

Slaughter fraud

Deputy Chairman of Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) Faik Yavuz, who owned the company that was responsible for the slaughtering of the animals, was sentenced to over 9 years in prison on charges of bribery, running a scam and aiding a criminal organization. 

Halit Ay and Ramazan Aytun were sentenced to four years each for “running a scam against the Mehmetçik Foundation” and were fined over 16.000 Turkish Liras each. 

Mahmut Ay, the owner of MAY-ET was sentenced to over 45 years in prison on a series of charges, including fraud over official documentation and bribery. The court also fined Ay over 150.000 liras. 
Suspected members of the Turkish Aeronautical Association (THK), however, were acquitted of charges.