 Ankara public prosecutors Nadi Türkaslan (R), Abdulvahap Yaren (2L) and Mehmet Tamöz (2R) arrive in Germany, where they will collect evidence and question people. Hürriyet photo |
Three prosecutors investigating connections in Turkey to the Lighthouse e.V. corruption case have gone to Germany, two-and-a-half years after the launching of the investigation. The prosecutors will examine hundreds of files, take copies as needed and interview 12 people connected to the case over two weeks’ time.
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, or HSYK, approved Ankara public prosecutors Nadi Türkaslan, Abdulvahap Yaren and Mehmet Tamöz's request to collect evidence and question relevant people in Germany. The three prosecutors, who traveled to Frankfurt on Monday, have already started to meet with German police chiefs and prosecutors investigating the case and to investigate sources of information. The prosecutors will interview 12 people, including Mehmet Gürhan and Mehmet Taşkan, the directors of Lighthouse e.V. in Germany.
A legal case was opened in Germany in 2007 against the religious charity Lighthouse e.V. over claims that donations to the charity were siphoned off and used by companies in Germany and Turkey. In 2008, three people were convicted in German courts of siphoning 18.6 million euros raised from Turks in Germany and transferring the sum to companies in Turkey. Mehmet Gürhan was sentenced to five years and 10 months, Mehmet Taşkan to two years and nine months and Firdevsi Ermiş to one year and 10 months, which was suspended on probation.
At the time, German authorities reported that it was the country’s largest charity corruption case. The claims of fraud widened to include media groups close to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and some Turkish bureaucrats. The AKP has denied the accusations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the party’s opponents and the media of defaming his AKP with reports of alleged corruption.
Gürhan, Taşkan and accountant Firdevsi Ermiş are accused of embezzling nearly 42 million euros in total. Gürhan was the director general of the Kanal 7 TV station in Europe but has been in prison since April 2007. The judge decided to keep him in prison because he said Gürhan might run away to Turkey. Taşkan was the head of Lighthouse e.V. in Germany and was first put in prison in August 2007. The court ruled in 2008 that he should be released from prison, but later he was sent back to serve the remaining nine months of his term. Firdevsi Ermiş’s sentence was suspended because she cooperated with investigators and confessed.
Though Lighthouse e.V. in Germany and Deniz Feneri, a Turkish foundation of the same name, have no official connection, the Deniz Feneri foundation is suspected of involvement in the transfer of those donations.
Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Ankara, has launched an investigation into whether Lighthouse e.V. sent money to Turkey.
The German court handed down its ruling in the case in 2008 and passed the ball to the Turkish authorities, saying the masterminds of the fraud were in Turkey.
The Turkish court in September asked Germany to send over a delegation of prosecutors in order to collect information.
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors, or HSYK, approved Ankara public prosecutors Nadi Türkaslan, Abdulvahap Yaren and Mehmet Tamöz's request to collect evidence and question relevant people in Germany. The three prosecutors, who traveled to Frankfurt on Monday, have already started to meet with German police chiefs and prosecutors investigating the case and to investigate sources of information. The prosecutors will interview 12 people, including Mehmet Gürhan and Mehmet Taşkan, the directors of Lighthouse e.V. in Germany.
A legal case was opened in Germany in 2007 against the religious charity Lighthouse e.V. over claims that donations to the charity were siphoned off and used by companies in Germany and Turkey. In 2008, three people were convicted in German courts of siphoning 18.6 million euros raised from Turks in Germany and transferring the sum to companies in Turkey. Mehmet Gürhan was sentenced to five years and 10 months, Mehmet Taşkan to two years and nine months and Firdevsi Ermiş to one year and 10 months, which was suspended on probation.
At the time, German authorities reported that it was the country’s largest charity corruption case. The claims of fraud widened to include media groups close to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and some Turkish bureaucrats. The AKP has denied the accusations. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused the party’s opponents and the media of defaming his AKP with reports of alleged corruption.
Gürhan, Taşkan and accountant Firdevsi Ermiş are accused of embezzling nearly 42 million euros in total. Gürhan was the director general of the Kanal 7 TV station in Europe but has been in prison since April 2007. The judge decided to keep him in prison because he said Gürhan might run away to Turkey. Taşkan was the head of Lighthouse e.V. in Germany and was first put in prison in August 2007. The court ruled in 2008 that he should be released from prison, but later he was sent back to serve the remaining nine months of his term. Firdevsi Ermiş’s sentence was suspended because she cooperated with investigators and confessed.
Though Lighthouse e.V. in Germany and Deniz Feneri, a Turkish foundation of the same name, have no official connection, the Deniz Feneri foundation is suspected of involvement in the transfer of those donations.
Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya, chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Ankara, has launched an investigation into whether Lighthouse e.V. sent money to Turkey.
The German court handed down its ruling in the case in 2008 and passed the ball to the Turkish authorities, saying the masterminds of the fraud were in Turkey.
The Turkish court in September asked Germany to send over a delegation of prosecutors in order to collect information.
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