TURKEY FREEZES EX-MINISTER’S ASSETS OVER $26M INVESTMENT SCHEME ALLEGATIONS

Turkish prosecutors have moved to freeze the assets of former Family Minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, amid allegations linked to a major investment fund scandal.

Prosecutors said they had sent a letter to relevant institutions requesting the freezing of all assets belonging to the former minister and her husband.

The move follows the collapse of an investment scheme that Turkish officials have described as “Ponzi-like” and which has triggered concerns among investors and regulators.

Kaya, a former family minister and senior member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, resigned from her position as deputy head of the party on Saturday.

She said her resignation was intended to take “political responsibility” and allow any investigation into the allegations to proceed independently and impartially.

Turkey’s main opposition party, Yeni Parti, had questioned claims that Kaya and her husband invested 63 million lira, about $1.3m, in April and later sold their shares for around 1.3 billion lira, reportedly making about $26.5m.

Opposition lawmaker Gokhan Gunaydin alleged that Kaya had access to insider information, while the former minister has not admitted to wrongdoing.

The allegations come as Turkish authorities investigate a wider investment fund crisis that began in September after several funds reportedly struggled to meet investor redemption requests.

Regulators subsequently placed seven companies managing 131 investment funds into liquidation. The funds reportedly held assets worth about $17bn, with more than 455,000 individual investors affected.

President Erdogan also held a three-hour meeting with economic officials on Tuesday to discuss the fallout from the scandal.