23 suspects, including artist and association president Haluk Levent, who were detained within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against the Dude Association, were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police station. In his statement at the police station, Haluk Levent also explained how much aid was collected from the aid campaigns carried out by the AHBAP association, both domestically and internationally, into the association's accounts, and where this aid money was spent.
Taking action upon the instructions of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the Istanbul Police Department's Financial Crimes Fighting Branch Directorate teams detained 24 suspects within the scope of the investigation against the Buddy Association. 23 of the suspects, whose interrogation and procedures at the police station were completed, were sent to the Istanbul Palace of Justice in Çağlayan after undergoing a health check in the morning. It was reported that 1 suspect in custody was released directly after being processed at the police station.
It was learned that the President of the Friends Association, Haluk Levent, who was referred to the courthouse, made detailed explanations in his statement at the police station about the amount of aid coming to the association's accounts and where it was spent. Stating that the earthquake aid collected was managed transparently, Levent gave the following information in his statement: "I explained the details live on my Twitter (@haluklevent) and Instagram (@haluklevent) personal accounts, but I estimate that I remember that around 4 billion 300 million TL came for the earthquake period of 2023. There may be minor changes in the figures, accounting records know the net figure. We explained with documents that 4 billion of this money was spent that year."
Emphasizing that all financial data of the association was subject to strict control of the state, Levent added that the collected aid was used in the coordination of the governorships in the earthquake zone: "All invoices are available at the Associations Desk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs within the 2023 financial audit. In addition, the audit of the 2024 and 2025 financial reports is also available at the Associations Desk of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Almost all of the incoming aid money was used in our activities in the earthquake region within 2 years. Especially to avoid illegal immigration, all invoices and delivery documents are submitted to Kahramanmaraş, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey." It is registered in the Governorships of Malatya, Gaziantep, Hatay, Osmaniye and Adana."
Here is Haluk Levent's full statement:
"I manage the accounts at Vakıfbank and Halkbank banks registered to a person named Yeliz KAYA. The money I earn as a result of the concerts is deposited into these accounts and I use the money. I do not use a bank account in my own name. I have an account at stock brokerage firms registered to a person named Zafer YAY. In the past, I had a credit card belonging to Halkbank registered in my name, but now it is closed and I do not use a credit card.
I have been the president of the Friends Association since its establishment. I have never had any other duty. He has a checkbook at Vakıfbank in the name of Ahbap Economic Enterprise. There is no checkbook in any bank in the name of Ahbap Association and Ahbap Logistics. I have the authority to issue checks. I used a check for the logistics activities we would carry out outside the Friends Association, but I have also personally used it as a guarantee check.
No checks were issued to the Friends Association employees. Promissory notes were given to other organizations in return for property purchases in 2026. Transfers for the properties were to be made in November 2026. "I will explain the details in court."
The reason I am here is related to a situation that starts in 2026. In order to make a profit for the Friends Association, I wanted to give 20 immovable properties, which are worth 150 million TL at the current price, to the Friends Association for 80 million TL, and I had the board of directors' decision taken in the decision book of the Friends Association regarding this. 80 million is my money. In return, he gets 20 Dude's flats. Although we applied for 20 flats from the Çerkezköy Land Registry Office on behalf of the Friendship Association about 3 months ago, they could not be purchased. The reason for this was that we were told that "the General Assembly of Friends will be held and then an application will be made to the provincial directorate of associations and the title deed procedures will be carried out immediately afterwards." We also convened the general assembly. We took a decision for the real estate from the general assembly and applied for the delivery of 20 flats 2 days before I was detained. There is a decision of the board of directors of the association that includes the island parcel information of the real estate in question. This decision is in the association's decision book confiscated by the police department.
Based on this, our board member Yusuf Can ERTİT was waiting with Çerkezköy Deputy Director of Land Registry to buy the flats. He didn't make it on Friday. If it had arrived on Friday, July 10, 2026, the 80 Million TL that came to Yeliz KAYA for a year would have been legally closed with interest. However, since it was not enough, Yeliz KAYA is now being treated as a member of the organization regarding the 80 Million TL that came to her, that is, wherever my money was used over the months. If I had been detained today, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, there would be no money outflow from the Friends Association. But the operation was postponed to noon on Sunday, July 12, 2026, just to ensure that everyone would be a member of the organization and everyone would be taken. If it had been waited for 1 (one) more day, the money from the Friends Association to Yeliz KAYA would have rendered the current operation in vain and people would not have been detained. This is a conscious, deliberate operation.
As Haluk LEVENT, unfortunately, I could not manage myself, my surroundings, or my work properly. I used friends' checks and promissory notes as collateral in some places. I got a large amount of debt. You can call this irregularity, but you cannot call it corruption. I was already on my way to correct everything that appeared to be an irregularity by the end of this year by recording it in the Dude's books, but this was not allowed. "From now on, any question you say or ask will have no meaning other than the explanations I will give below."
So why did these checks and promissory notes begin to be written? The result cannot be explained without the reason in the interrogation report. Everything grew in tandem. The events we experienced during the earthquake dragged me into an inextricable situation. I already have a nasty weakness for trading on the stock market. The economic costs of the first two years of the earthquake caused me to trade more in the stock market and take more risks. I always owed this money. I never took money from the Friends Association and played. If they claim such a thing, the Chief Inspectors of the Ministry of Internal Affairs should first resign. Because in 2023, 2024 and 2025, all activity reports of the Friends Association, to which our citizens helped with their sweat and our little children's tuition, were audited and no negative effects were found. It was not me, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs inspectors conveyed this through their reports. These reports are available in the relevant organization and can be clearly seen every year on the official social media of the Dude association. They can open it and see it right now.
My question is for the year 2026. There are shortcomings in Dude. Which association or foundation does not have it? But I was going to complete the deficiencies anyway until the new inspection came. "For some reason, the 20 flats that I will give in return for this 80 million TL debt (I will explain this in detail on social media) are blocked by a hand one day before the title deed transfer, and dozens of people, including me, are detained."
The investigation against the Buddy Association was initiated upon the complaint filed by businessman Hüseyin Başaran on behalf of Haluk Levent, alleging fraud. Allegedly, Başaran; He donated real estate worth 60 million dollars with the promise of building a dormitory for girls, but he applied to the prosecutor's office, arguing that these properties were not used for their intended purpose. In his statement, Levent answered the question about Başaran as follows:
"The real estate transaction between Hüseyin BAŞARAN, one of the complainants of the file, and me is related to the credit/receivable issue. There is no fraud. I consider that the issue is one of the issues in legal dispute. Moreover, the real estate subject to the complaint is not in the amount claimed. Some payment has been made by me. I do not want to make any statement regarding the alleged accusation."
In the investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the allegation that "donations collected on behalf of the Dude Association were transferred to the accounts of the suspects", many suspects, including the founder of the association, singer Haluk Levent, were detained.
In the investigation, as a result of the MASAK reports prepared for the Friends Association employees, account activity reviews and technical and physical follow-up activities, it was determined that the suspects had high amounts of money movements that were incompatible with their financial profiles, high amounts of money transfers were made between them, they placed bets by transferring large amounts of money to their games of chance accounts and lost large amounts of money in this way, and they also carried out many chain title deed transfer transactions among themselves in a short time.