Fraud claims shake Erbakan family, Saadet Party

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Zeynep Erbakan has filed a criminal complaint against her siblings. Zeynep Erbakan has filed a criminal complaint against her siblings. AA photo

The daughter of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan has filed a criminal complaint against her siblings, claiming they embezzled their father’s properties as the party Erbakan founded faces a fraud charge against his son, a party executive.

 One of Erbakan’s daughters, Zeynep Erbakan, filed a criminal complaint against her brother Muhammet Ali Fatih Erbakan and sister Rabia Elif Erbakan Altınöz, as well as her brother-in-law, Mehmet Altınöz, on March 6, claiming that they embezzled their father’s property into their own accounts after his death last year, daily Milliyet reported yesterday. The Felicity Party (SP) has also been shaken by recent claims of fraud, in which one of the venerable politician’s sons, Fatih Erbakan, is accused of embezzling a certain amount of the party’s budget into his personal account. However, a prominent party official has denied the claims, the daily reported.

 The criminal complaint submitted by Zeynep Erbakan said she had learned the suspects owned a certain amount of money and real estate and that they had not registered any of those properties except those they inherited.

Zeynep Erbakan said in her complaint that the value of the suspects’ properties had tremendously increased following their father’s death on Feb. 27, 2011.

“There is information that the suspect, Mehmet Altınöz, started controlling an amount of 10 million liras in Turkish banks and registered a certain amount of real estate properties. Such information should be investigated in order to protect the rights of Zeynep Erbakan,” the statement read.

The complaint has asked for up to five years in prison for the suspects.

Necmettin Erbakan was the founder of the SP and served as prime minister from 1996 to 1997.