Turkey jails former minister in investment fund scandal
Zaman Australia7 November 20264 hrs ago1 min read
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A former Turkish minister and senior ruling party official was jailed pending trial Friday as part of an investigation into a multibillion-dollar investment fund scandal, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
An İstanbul court ordered Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya jailed on charges of violating capital markets law and belonging to a criminal organization, the agency said.
Kaya served as family minister from 2016 to 2018 and until recently was a deputy chair of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
She stepped down on September 26 following allegations by the main opposition New Party that she had profited from an investment scandal that had emerged earlier that month.
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A New Party lawmaker sought clarification over allegations that she and her husband had made millions through share transactions before the scandal broke, raising questions about insider trading.
She later left the ruling party.
The scandal erupted in mid-September, prompting an investigation into allegations of market manipulation affecting the savings of nearly 500,000 investors.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced Tuesday that 112 people had been jailed pending trial in the investigation, adding that investigators had uncovered a “comprehensive criminal network” that infiltrated the highest levels of Turkey’s financial markets.
