In his statement at the police station, Haluk Levent's former driver İlker Çetin, who was detained within the scope of the investigation into the allegation that "donations collected on behalf of the Buddy Association were transferred to the accounts of the suspects", claimed that his and other employees' accounts were used by Levent for money transfers.
The investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the allegation that "donations collected on behalf of the Friends Association were transferred to the accounts of the suspects" continues.
Suspect İlker Çetin, who was detained within the scope of the investigation, stated in his statement at the police station that he had been Haluk Levent's driver for about 3.5 years and that he left a year ago.
In his statement, Çetin was asked whether he gave his phone to Levent and whether he helped Levent use his bank accounts and send money to other people.
Claiming that Levent used his phone more than once and his account for money transfers, Çetin said the following in his statement:
"He uses my account not over the phone, but because he wants money to be sent to other people by giving my IBAN to other people. He sends the money coming to my account to the people he tells me through my IBAN. I had already given the password of my phone when I surrendered in Bandırma. He personally sent me instructions via WhatsApp regarding transactions related to this IBAN. With Haluk Levent's knowledge, the money would come to me in the form of a loan. I also told Haluk Levent, 'Within Haluk Levent's knowledge, "I would send money saying 'debt, refund' or 'Haluk Levent's information'. Levent does not have a credit or debit card. As I mentioned above, he was using these accounts to the accounts of people named Emrah Gödeliner and Zafer Yay."
"Haluk Levent used to gamble when he went to Cyprus"
In his statement, Çetin was reminded of the money movements in MASAK's account movement review, regarding the receipt of 6.5 million lira from Zafer Yay to his account between 2022 and 2024, and the transfer of approximately 2 million lira from him to Yay's account, and was asked about the source of these money.
Arguing that Zafer Yay sent money to his account for vehicle-related works, that this instruction was given by Levent, and that he did not know its content in detail, Çetin said, "There were times when he sent money for travel expenses and other expenses. Or Haluk Levent personally used my account and sent money to other people, and sent these money to the accounts of people named Zafer Yay, Emrah Gödeliner and Yeliz Kaya. There are WhatsApp messages regarding this, giving me instructions. I would also like to point out one thing, as far as I know and see." "Haluk Levent used to gamble when he went to Cyprus." he said.
"Do you know whether the person named Haluk Levent bets a large amount of money? Also, did he ever lose money?" İlker Çetin, to whom the question was asked, stated that he was not there in person, so he did not know, but he bought coins from the casino using his account.
Çetin asked, "How much tokens did he charge for using your account? Is there a large amount or an amount that caught your eye?" "We did not always go to Cyprus. When we went to Cyprus when there were concerts, the amounts that caught my eye were 1 million and above, that is, around 2 million." he replied.
İlker Çetin was asked what was the source of the money transfers between 2 million 800 thousand and 8 million 355 thousand liras between him and the suspect Alper Çelik.
To this question, Çetin stated that he transferred money to Çelik using Haluk Levent's account, that he did not know the source of the money, that he helped him because he was his boss, and that Levent did not have his own account or credit card, and as far as he heard, he might not have an account because he did not have a good record with banks.
Allegedly using employees' accounts
In the MASAK investigation, Çetin was asked about the reason for this financial relationship, stating that 10 million lira came to his account from Yeliz Kaya and that he transferred 210 million lira to Kaya.
"Haluk Levent used my account to transfer money from Yeliz Kaya to my account in order to send money to Yeliz Kaya and his other personal receivables. Individuals named Haluk Levent, Zafer Yay, C.K. received a large amount of money in Ankara and invested money in my name from the Ankara branch on behalf of Yeliz Kaya. It was taken from the person and deposited into the bank account. I do not know what money it was. I do not remember from whom I received the money. As far as I remember, the company received a location on my phone from the person named Haluk Levent. "I don't remember the person or persons who drove to a place like this and brought the money. I was acting upon the requests and orders of Haluk Levent."
Çetin was asked whether the use of such large amounts of money bothered him and why his accounts were used.
Stating that the accounts of Halil Bostancı and C.K. were also used, Çetin claimed that he was disturbed but could not ask because he was afraid of being unemployed, and that he kept their correspondence as evidence.
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", 25 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.
In addition, while detention orders were issued for 17 more suspects within the scope of the investigation, it was understood that 3 of them were in prison during the operation. Thus, the number of suspects detained within the scope of the investigation increased to 42.
On the other hand, another investigation was launched after Başaran Holding filed a criminal complaint against Haluk Levent, Yeliz Kaya and Esin Önder Çağlayan on June 29, alleging that their assets worth $60 million were seized through unfair and fraudulent means.