Manager faces 216-year sentence in fraud case

ISTANBUL

An Istanbul prosecutor’s office has sought a 216-year jail term for a bank manager accused of defrauding a group of prominent individuals, including well-known footballers such as Arda Turan and Fernando Muslera, by promising high returns on their investments.

Seçil Erzan, the manager of a private bank, allegedly deceived 18 individuals from the sports world with the promise of substantial returns on their investments in a fund and embezzled the money sent to her for the investment.

According to WhatsApp records, Erzan allegedly stalled those seeking their money or failed to respond to their calls when they inquired about their investments.

The indictment, which includes statements from Turan and footballer and coach Emre Belözoğlu, alleged that Erzan defrauded approximately $27 million from the 18 victims.

"Seçil Erzan deceived me and wiped out all the money I had earned through years of hard work. I am deeply saddened; this incident has taken a heavy toll on me. All my savings vanished in an instant," Turan said in his statement to the prosecutor’s office.

The prosecution has brought charges of "document forgery" and "aggravated fraud" against Erzan and six other individuals connected to the case, with a request for the bank manager to be sentenced to a prison term ranging from 66 to 216 years. The other suspects in the case are facing potential prison sentences ranging from four years to 97 years.

According to the indictment, the bank manager allegedly defrauded Turan of 7.5 million dollars and Belözoğlu of 4.2 million dollars. Muslera incurred a loss of 1.5 million dollars.