Former Istanbul Stock Exchange Director Remanded as Probe Encompasses 433 Suspects

Turkish investigators have widened a sweeping probe into alleged stock-market manipulation and corruption, naming 433 suspects and detaining senior figures connected to the Istanbul exchange. Justice Minister Akin Yurek announced on 3 November that, of those under investigation, 112 people are in custody, 186 are subject to judicial control measures and 38 remain at large.

Scope of arrests, asset freezes and fund liquidations

The authorities say property belonging to 359 individuals and 111 legal entities has been frozen, and 131 investment funds with a total of 455,758 registered investors are being liquidated. Around 30 billion lira in cash, real estate and shares have been returned voluntarily through the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), a recovery that officials say does not equate to payment to harmed investors.

Former Istanbul Stock Exchange director Korkmaz Enes Ergun was detained on 31 October on suspicion of bribery and membership of a criminal organisation; on 3 November he was remanded on suspicion of accepting bribes. Atila Tureli was appointed acting director on 1 November. Arrest warrants have also been issued for former exchange officials Enver Uscak, Bulent Murat Hahol, Kursat Sait Babuçu and Erjan Urkan, for Banking Regulator official Mustafa Alper Tas, and for Umit Sindzanli, director of Tera Holding.

Investigators say they are probing organised cooperation between exchange officials, suspects accused of manipulation and media representatives, and examining whether oversight was weakened by bribery. Transactions carried out between 13 and 16 September are under scrutiny for suspected use of inside information. Officials caution that no unlawful profit or loss has been judicially established to date.

The Capital Markets Board (SPK) ordered the liquidation of 131 funds managed by Tera, Pusula, Hedef, Atlas, A1, Pardus and Buls on 17 September. A moratorium on payments was extended from three to six months and a special law came into force on 27 October. According to the presidency, by 30 October 97.3 billion lira had been paid to 247,839 investors across 100 funds. Principal savings were paid to 178,537 unique investors, with total cash and non-cash value of about 76 billion lira.

Regulatory fines and transaction anomalies add to the probes: on 17 June 2026 SPK fined Tera Portfolio 4,435,027.79 lira over trading of the TLY fund through TEFAS from 7 July 2025 without prior approval. New purchases were suspended on 1 August, approval granted on 6 August and trading resumed on 12 August. Reporting based on corporate records indicates that roughly 20 billion lira were withdrawn from TLY in July against 6.55 billion in new inflows; how the withdrawals occurred and whether they were unlawful remains undetermined.

Journalist Abdulkadir Selvi said the exchange issued about 130 warnings over suspicious funds since 2025; SPK disputed that count and noted it filed criminal complaints against 152 people in 2025 and 174 up to 6 October 2026, 96 of them linked to funds. Former Takasbank director Yunus Arinci gave a statement as a suspect on 1 November and received judicial control measures including a travel ban. Those accused retain the presumption of innocence while liquidation and repayment processes continue.

Photo: press material from the event