Şık: Istanbul Prosecutor's Office Issues Precautionary Measures Against Pacific Holding Partners and AKP Deputy's Spouse

TİP Deputy Ahmet Şık claimed on his X account that Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office sent instruction letters to 13 institutions based on documents he shared. The prosecutor's office allegedly requested precautionary measures and investigation into transfers, sales, donations, mortgages, pledges, account closures, high-value cash withdrawals, and money transfers related to the assets of Pacific Holding partners Fatih Erdoğan, Mehmet Erdoğan, and Abdülkerim Fırat. Fatih Erdoğan is the spouse of AKP Ankara Deputy Asuman Erdoğan and Chairman of Pacific Holding's Board of Directors; the holding is known for TOKİ and Emlak Konut projects and municipal tenders. Pacific Holding had previously been subject to a precautionary measure, though it was later lifted. In the document Şık shared, it was not specified which concrete transactions the three partners are being investigated for; the instruction does not mean that all of their assets have been seized.

The fund investigation accelerated in September. On 17 September, the Capital Markets Board decided to liquidate 131 investment funds belonging to seven portfolio management companies; the funds in question belong to TERA, PUSULA, HEDEF, ATLAS, A1, PARDUS, and BULLS PORTFOLIO companies. İş Bankası and Ziraat Bankası will conduct the liquidation process. In the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office investigation, as of late September — including a former deputy governor of the Central Bank — the number of detainees had reached 85. On 30 September, precautionary measures were imposed on the assets of 30 people, including Adil Katılım Bankası Board Chairman Ali Emre Ballı and Mustafa Yazıcı, son of AKP-affiliated Hayati Yazıcı; the decision was lifted the following day on 1 October. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced on 9 October that 187 billion liras in unjustified fund gains had been identified. Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced that the money of 43 thousand fund participants had been transferred to banks.

Former AKP Deputy Chairman and Family Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya had allegedly made 21 times profit from the fund, while her spouse made 8 times profit, with the couple withdrawing a total of 2 billion 170 million liras at the beginning of the month; Kaya resigned from her positions without responding to the allegations. On 29 September, Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office sent memoranda to relevant institutions for freezing the assets of Kaya and her spouse İlyas Kaya; according to Anadolu Agency's report on 6 October, the couple applied for reimbursement of fund gains.