Turkey probes former capital markets regulator over alleged abuse amid fund scandal

Prosecutors in Turkey have submitted a request to a court seeking permission to investigate former Capital Markets Board (SPK) chairman İbrahim Ömer Gönül for alleged abuse of office, citing “clear and sufficient indications” that he failed to perform oversight duties during his four-year term that ended in April. The move is part of a broader investigation into a massive investment-fund scandal that erupted in mid-September when several funds could not meet redemption demands, causing a sharp drop in the Istanbul stock index and prompting the regulator to order the liquidation of 131 funds managed by seven portfolio companies.

The crisis has implicated 455,758 individual investors and assets valued at about $18.3 billion, and has already forced the resignation of senior AKP figure and former minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya over alleged profit-making. An Istanbul court this weekend ordered an additional 20 suspects to be held pending trial, bringing the total number of detainees in related cases to 85. The Treasury and Finance Ministry has tasked its Inspection Board with a preliminary review of the case, while President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan emphasized the need to protect the economy and hold those who gained unjustly accountable.