Lawsuit filed against İmamoğlu for ‘bid rigging’

Burcu Purtul Uçar - ISTANBUL

A lawsuit has been filed against Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for seven years in prison on the grounds of “bid rigging” of his time as the mayor of Beylikdüzü district in 2015.

The inspectors of the Interior Ministry reported to the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office about İmamoğlu and six municipal officials of the time, Cem Ülken, Fidan Gül, Hasan Çetin, Hilal Çuhadar, Mehmet Hepgül and Türkan Demirel Dişi Sağlam, for the crime of “tender rigging.”

According to the report, Elapro firm won the personnel tender opened by the municipality in 2015. Another firm in the tender, Bilir Tourism and Consultancy, objected to the result claiming that Elapro was not qualified, but the objection was rejected by the municipal authorities.

Kemal Polat, the lawyer of İmamoğlu, said the mayor was not involved in any stage of the tender process and did not give any instructions or direction. He noted that İmamoğlu, as the mayor, did not have the authority to approve tender works and transactions and, hence, he could not be held criminally responsible.

The indictment prepared by the prosecutor’s office said there was a public loss of 250,086 Turkish Liras and demanded a prison sentence of three to seven years for İmamoğlu and the municipal officials.

Büyükçekmece’s criminal court accepted the indictment and filed a lawsuit. The first hearing will be held on June 15.

İmamoğlu slammed the move on his social media account, saying, “This file was examined by the inspectors years ago and sent to the Council of State, which completed its administrative review and did not see any problems.”

The mayor, already subject to a court sentence for two years and seven months in prison on charges of insulting members of the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK), is at risk of losing his job because of an ongoing court case.