ANKARA – Istanbul prosecutors have indicted Denizbank’s chief executive and another former executive for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme worth about $44 million, including Dozens of people, including football stars, made money.
Anadolu news agency reported on Tuesday that the indictment calls for sentences ranging from 72 to 240 for Hakan Ates, CEO of Denizbank, a unit of Dubai National Bank, and Mehmet Aydogdu, a former bank executive. years in prison.
The charges are part of a lawsuit filed last year against former Denizbank branch manager Secil Erzan.
Erzan, who has been in jail since April 2023, is accused of charging people millions of dollars and promising up to 250 percent interest on secrets she said the bank had, according to an indictment prepared last year. The fund provided the money, but it turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.
Two indictments show that 24 people, including Turkish soccer stars, said they were lured into handing over millions of dollars to Erzan. Some of these transactions took place outside banks in places like bakeries. In some cases, complainants received documents regarding their investments.
The suspects mentioned in the indictment include former Barcelona midfielder Arda Turan, Uruguayan goalkeeper Fernando Muslera, former Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim and others.
In new charges, prosecutors allege that Ates and Edodu had “close contacts and relationships with some of the plaintiffs” who were aware of the fund’s existence, Anadolu Agency reported. However, both Ates and Edodu denied any knowledge of Erzan’s actions and maintained their innocence.
Last week, Deniz Bank announced Edodu’s resignation as deputy general manager. In response to the development, the bank issued a statement on Tuesday denying any wrongdoing. The bank criticized the leaking of details to the media, saying it violated the presumption of innocence. The bank said such leaks “trampled on the most fundamental principles of criminal law protected by the Constitution – the presumption of innocence and the right not to be tainted.”
