Istanbul conmen cheated man out of 100,000 liras by ‘selling’ seven square meters of land

Fırat Alkaç – ISTANBUL

Swindlers in Istanbul have allegedly defrauded a 66-year-old man of 100,000 Turkish Liras ($28,240) by telling him they were involved in the sale of land on the city’s Esenyurt Square, the sole rights of which in fact belong to the district municipality. 

The cheated man, İbrahim İhsan Kutnak, had planned to sell döner from his pickup truck on the square and thus allocate a small piece of land for himself for his business. 

Kutnak initially applied to various Istanbul municipalities in order to acquire land in the city from where he could conduct his business, but faced negative responses. He then met the alleged conman, taxi driver Mutafa Tezcan, who told him that he had contacts at the Esenyurt Municipality and could help him with his efforts.

Tezcan and his two other friends allegedly then told the 66-year-old that they could get him seven square meters of land on the Esenyurt Square. The trio took the Kutnak to the square, where they carried out measurements to “parcel out” the area and took 100,000 liras from Kutnak, according to his statements. 

Kutnak reportedly understood he had been cheated after he visited the Esenyurt Municipality and spoke with municipal security officers. He then filed a criminal complaint at the Büyükçekmece Prosecutor’s Office. 

“First they told me the price was 120,000 liras. Then they lowered it to 10,000 liras. They brought fake licenses. I believed somehow. I took out a loan from the bank and paid the 100,000 liras last week,” he testified. 

Tezcan denies the allegations. 

“We tried to find a place for [Kutnak’s] vehicle. The money was taken. But when things did not work out, this money was paid back. The friends even paid this money back above [the original amount]. The allegations against me are not real. We don’t have any money left from [Kutnak],” he said.

The prosecutor’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.