Turkish prosecutors have moved to freeze the assets of former Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, amid an investigation into a major investment fund scandal.
Prosecutors said they had sent a request to relevant institutions seeking the freezing of all assets belonging to the couple.
Kaya, a senior member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, resigned from her position as deputy party chair at the weekend, saying she was taking political responsibility to allow an investigation into the allegations to proceed independently.
The move came after Turkey’s main opposition party, Yeni Parti, raised questions over claims that Kaya and her husband invested about 63 million Turkish lira in April and later sold their holdings for around 1.3 billion lira.
The opposition alleged that the couple may have benefited from insider information, although Kaya has not admitted wrongdoing.
The allegations emerged as Turkey investigates the collapse of several investment funds described by officials as operating in a “Ponzi-like” manner.
The crisis began in September after several funds reportedly struggled to meet investors’ redemption demands, triggering a sharp fall on Istanbul’s stock exchange.
Regulators subsequently placed seven companies managing 131 investment funds into liquidation. Turkey’s Capital Markets Board said more than 455,000 individual investors were affected, with the assets of the funds reportedly valued at about $17 billion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his ruling party against allegations linked to the scandal, insisting that the AK Party remains clean.
READ ALSO:Customs Seizes 204 Pump-Action Rifles Smuggled from Turkey at Tin Can Port
Investigations into the fund crisis and the allegations surrounding Kaya and her husband are ongoing.
