Turkey remands ex-minister over investment fund scandal

A former Turkish minister and senior ruling party official was placed in detention pending trial on Friday as part of an investigation into a multi-billion-dollar investment fund scandal, state news agency Anadolu reported.

Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya was remanded in custody by an Istanbul court on charges of “violating the capital markets law and membership of an organisation established for the purpose of committing crimes”, it said.

Kaya served as the family minister from 2016 to 2018 and until recently, she was a deputy chair of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP.

She stepped down on September 26 following allegations by the main opposition Yeni party that she had made huge profits from an investment scandal that hit the headlines earlier that month.

A Yeni lawmaker sought clarification over claims she and her husband had made millions through transactions involving shares which they allegedly offloaded before the scandal broke, raising questions about insider trading.

She later quit the ruling party.

Turkey has been wrestling with the fallout from an investment fund scandal that erupted in mid-September, with prosecutors looking into allegations of widespread market manipulation affecting the savings of nearly half a million investors.

On Tuesday, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said 112 people had been jailed pending trial in the crisis, saying investigators had uncovered a “comprehensive criminal network” that infiltrated the highest levels of Turkey’s financial markets.

AFP

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