Up to 15 years sought for Istanbul conmen over fraudulent sale of gov’t land

Fırat Alkaç – ISTANBUL

Turkish prosecutors have sought from five to 15 years for a group of swindlers on charges of involvement in the fraudulent sale of a government land in Istanbul’s Esenyurt Square.

The case concerns taxi driver Mustafa Tezcan and his two friends, who are accused of defrauding İbrahim İhsan Kutnak, 67, of 100,000 Turkish Liras in 2016 by telling the latter they were involved in the sale of land in Esenyurt Square, the sole rights of which in fact belong to the district municipality.

The cheated man Kutnak had planned to sell döner from his pickup truck on the square and thus allocate a small piece of land for himself for his business.

Kutnak initially applied to various Istanbul municipalities in order to acquire a land in the city from where he could conduct his business, but faced negative responses. He then met Tezcan, who was allegedly a conman who told him he had contacts at the Esenyurt Municipality and could help him with his efforts.

Tezcan and his two other friends allegedly told Kutnak they could get him seven square meters of land in Esenyurt Square. The trio took Kutnak to the square, where they carried out measurements to “parcel out” the area and took 100,000 liras from Kutnak, handing him forged documents in return, according to the complainant’s statements.

Kutnak reportedly understood he had been cheated after he visited the Esenyurt Municipality and spoke with municipal security officers. He then filed a criminal complaint with the authorities.

The Bakırköy Prosecutor’s Office has prepared an indictment regarding the case, demanding from five to 15 years in prison for the suspects.