At least 25 people detained in third wave of exam fraud case in Turkey

In an Ankara based operation launched by public prosecutor Yücel Erkman, 25 people who were allegedly involved in fraud connected to Turkey’s Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) were detained in the third wave of the investigation. 

While warrants for a total of 44 people in 19 provinces were issued, the 25 detained included teachers and school managers. Police forces said they were still searching for the 19 suspects who could not yet be found. 

The suspects are being charged with “being a member of an organization with felonious intent, forgery of official documents, fraud against state institutions, removing evidence, and professional misconduct.” 

Warrants were issued for eight people in Ankara, seven people in Istanbul, seven people in Kocaeli, four people in Erzurum, three people in Gaziantep, two people in Van, and one person each from Antalya, Bursa, Çanakkale, Denizli, Eskişehir, Giresun, Hatay, Kastamonu, Kayseri, Mardin, Sakarya, Samsun and Şanlıurfa. 

Meanwhile, an administrative investigation inside the police department regarding allegations of leaking the details of multiple operations to a whistleblower’s Twitter account, tweeting under the pseudonym Fuat Avni, was launched the same day. 

Like many police raids in the recent past, the latest operation was also leaked by Fuat Avni early May 25, more than a day before it happened.