Turkey seeks freeze of ex-minister Kaya's assets as fund probe widens
Istanbul prosecutors asked Turkish institutions to freeze all assets of former minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband on Tuesday, days after she resigned from Erdogan's AK Party over trading allegations in the investment-fund probe.
Turkish prosecutors moved on Tuesday to freeze all assets of former minister Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband Ilyas Kaya, as part of a widening investigation into an investment-fund crisis.
In a brief statement late on Tuesday, prosecutors said they had sent “a letter concerning the freezing of all assets” of the couple to “all the relevant institutions”, AFP reported. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said the order was issued under the fund investigation run by its Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Crimes Investigation Bureau, Balkan Insight reported.
Kaya, Turkey’s family minister from 2016 to 2018, resigned as a deputy chair of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party late on Saturday, saying she was taking “political responsibility” so any investigation could be conducted “independently, impartially”. She admitted nothing.
The opposition Yeni Parti said it was seeking clarification over claims the couple invested 63 million lira ($1.3 million) in shares in April and earned 1.3 billion lira ($26.5 million) by September. Party official Gokhan Gunaydın said it was “clear” she had received insider information.
Erdogan held a three-hour meeting with economic aides on Tuesday and told party cadres: “The AK Party is a clean party, just as its name suggests; it is a party true to its name.”
Fifty-one people have been remanded in custody in the wider probe, and 130 investment funds have been ordered into liquidation, with assets worth about 18.8 billion euros affecting roughly 353,000 investors, according to Reuters figures cited by Balkan Insight.
Sources
- AFP via Punch — Turkey freezes ex-minister’s assets over $26m ponzi scheme allegations — https://punchng.com/turkey-freezes-ex-ministers-assets-over-26m-ponzi-scheme-allegations/
- AFP via Dubai Telegraph — Turkey freezes ex-minister’s assets as fund crisis grows — https://www.dubaitelegraph.ae/Boulevard/734945-turkey-freezes-ex-ministers-assets-as-fund-crisis-grows.html
- Balkan Insight — Turkey Freezes Former Minister’s Assets in Market Manipulation Probe — https://balkaninsight.com/2026/09/30/turkey-freezes-former-ministers-assets-in-market-manipulation-probe/bi/
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