Gang registers companies to homeless man

Ferhat Ekinci - ANKARA

It is alleged that the members of the gang busted in the “Iron Fist” op registered all the fly-by-night companies to a mentally ill homeless man to defraud the state.

“They offered me 1,000 Turkish Liras, saying that they would open a company to me. I accepted it because I was living on the streets,” said M.G., one of the suspects detained in police raids as part of a “Iron Fist” operation against fraud in the iron and steel sector, adding that he shared his credentials for money.

“They said that the company would close in two months, but I couldn’t reach them after two months,” M.G. said.

“Two months later, when I went to the tax office, I learned that a company was registered to me in Ankara.”

“I came to Ankara to have the company closed down, but I couldn’t,” he added.

M.G., who was detained two years later, was released after the prosecution statement.

In the investigation, led by the officials from the Combating Financial Crimes Department of the police office of Ankara, technical and physical surveillance has been used for 10 months.

As a result of the investigation, a major operation, dubbed “Iron Fist” was launched in 29 provinces across Türkiye early on June 28 with the participation of 2,100 police officers and 250 other officials and 14 factories and 850 locations were raided.

323 suspects, including three alleged crime organization leaders, were detained in police raids.

Among the suspects detained is Erol Evcil, a notorious businessman who spent years in prison on charges of organized crime.

The suspects are accused of disrupting price stability by manipulating the iron and steel market, monopolizing the sector by eliminating rival companies, and defrauding 25 billion Turkish Liras ($1.5 billion) of public money by passing 105 billion liras worth of fake invoices through fly-by-night companies.