Police reveal details on procurement gang

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Police raided the headquarters of the Public Procurement Authority in Ankara Feb 13 regarding the claims on tender rigging. The probe is going deeper, reports say.

Ankara police have identified the organizational structure of a gang that has allegedly been 
rigging tenders at Turkey’s Public Procurement Authority (KİK) following the arrest of 12 people last week, according to daily Milliyet.
 
In the probe file, Ali Kaya, a member of KİK’s board since 2007, is thought to be the gang leader while two staffers, Osman Turna and Şenol Varüer, are believed to be the lieutenants. 

Ali Kaya, who is also the top suspect, was used a reference in transferring his top aides, 
Turna and Varüer, from İller Bankası, a state development and investment bank tied to the 
Environment and Urban Planning Ministry that provides services for local governments.

Ali Kaya himself worked at İller Bankası before 2007 and knew the two staffers personally. 

Turna and Varüer started working for KİK in 2008. Varüer allegedly acted as a key manager of the gang while Turna allegedly received direct orders from Kaya that resulted in misconduct and the revelation of secrets regarding tenders and bribery, according to the file seen by Milliyet.

Another prominent figure in the gang identified was Yusuf Kaya, a relative of Ali Kaya, according to the report. He had no duty at KİK but allegedly facilitated the bribery. 

Police monitored 37 different cellular phones, six of which belonged to Ali Kaya, for more than a year, the paper said.

In one of the wiretappings, Hasan Karakaya, who conducted business follow-ups for a firm called Mass, expressed his fatigue because Ali Kaya and other KİK employees constantly demanded favors such as 
hotel reservations and trips, according to the probe file, Milliyet reported.