Guns replaced with imitations at İzmir museum in fraud scheme
İZMİR – Demirören News Agency
An expert has spotted that some 32 guns out of a total 250 guns at a weapons museum belonging to the police headquarters in the western province of İzmir had been replaced with their imitations in a fraud scheme.
Authorities have launched a criminal case into three security officers, one of whom was arrested by a court order on charges of “embezzlement.” Meanwhile, the missing original guns, which are said to have an antique value, still could not be found.
The incident occurred at the Weapons Museum in the İzmir Criminal Police Lab in September 2018. An anonymous expert security officer who was visiting the museum analyzed the weapons being exhibited at the museum. He, however, became suspicious about the details written on one of the weapons and notified the authorities that the gun in question may not have been an original one.
Following analyses of the relevant units, the authorities determined that 32 of 250 weapons were replaced with their imitations. The incident led to the detention of three police officers responsible of the guns in question at the museum, including an inspector.
One of the police officers, known only by the initials A.S., was arrested, while the other police officer was released pending trial, and the inspector was released under judicial control.
The prosecutors have demanded up to four years in jail for each of the police officers standing trial. The hearing process will start in the upcoming days.
Apart from a criminal case, authorities have also launched an administrative case into the incident, trying to spot anyone with connections to the case.
