An İstanbul court on Saturday ordered 15 more suspects jailed pending trial in Turkey’s investment fund scandal, bringing the total jailed in the investigations to 114, Turkish media reported.
Altınbaş Holding executive İnan Altınbaş and former central bank deputy governor Taha Çakmak were among those jailed, while seven other suspects were released under judicial supervision, the Karar daily reported.
Çakmak resigned as head of the Türkiye Sigorta insurance company on October 15 after being questioned and released in the investigation. Police detained him again Friday over allegations that he received $1 million from the Tera financial group in exchange for directing the insurer’s money into its funds.
İnan Altınbaş’s brother, Nusret Altınbaş, who had been sought on a detention warrant, was also taken into custody Saturday. Courts had ordered 11 suspects jailed pending trial and four others put under house arrest on Friday.
The crisis erupted in September when investment funds failed to meet withdrawal requests, leaving nearly half a million investors facing losses and unable to access their savings. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that funds bought shares in little-known companies to inflate their prices.
Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven companies, requiring their assets to be sold to repay investors.
Parliament on Thursday approved legislation governing repayments and the recovery of assets unlawfully removed from the funds. The law allows interim payments of up to 1 million lira, about $20,000, and inflation adjustments when calculating repayments.
Many investors have spent more than a month without access to their money, with uncertainty over how much they will recover and when the payments will arrive.
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