Massive thefts in Istanbul’s judicial evidence depots trigger nationwide inspections

ISTANBUL

Turkish authorities have ordered sweeping inspections of evidence warehouses across the country’s 81 provinces after two major theft cases were uncovered in Istanbul, involving the disappearance of gold, silver and firearms kept under judicial custody.

The first incident emerged at a courthouse in Büyükçekmece, where investigators found that 25 kilograms of gold and 50 kilograms of silver — with an estimated value of 147 million Turkish Liras ($3.4 million) — had vanished from the evidence vault.

Security footage later showed Erdal Timurtaş, a cleaning staff member at the courthouse, loading the precious metals into a supermarket trolley and leaving the building.

Timurtaş reportedly accessed the vault using a dual-key system shared with evidence officer Kemal D., who has since been arrested on charges of embezzlement.

According to his statement, Timurtaş had substantial gambling debts and sent a series of messages to colleagues before fleeing, including: “I sold my house and belongings. Don’t call me.”

Authorities say Timurtaş fled to the United Kingdom with his wife and children on Nov. 19. A red notice has been requested for the couple.

Speaking to reporters, Timurtaş’s mother has insisted her son could not have acted alone. "Why would he even have this key? He is certainly not the type of person who could pull this off by himself," she said.

As the investigation into Büyükçekmece widened, a second breach was discovered during routine checks at a chief prosecutor’s office evidence depot in the Princes’ Islands.

Officials there found that 12 firearms registered as evidence were missing.

A court clerk, identified as U.E., previously assigned to the evidence unit, was arrested on Nov. 26 on allegations that he unlawfully removed and sold several weapons. Nine of the missing guns have not yet been recovered.

In response to the growing scandal, the Justice Ministry ordered four chief inspectors to examine the two cases and instructed that evidence rooms nationwide be subjected to tighter, more frequent audits.