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New security footage has revealed how a court employee carried out one of the most striking thefts in recent years inside Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece Courthouse.
Investigators say Erdal Timurtas, who worked in the courthouse’s evidence room, removed 25 kilograms (55.11 pounds) of gold and 50 kilograms (110.2 pounds) of silver before fleeing Türkiye with his family.
Authorities discovered the theft on Dec. 1 during a routine inspection. The supervising prosecutor opened the evidence room and found the safes empty. The missing items, valued at roughly $3.5 million (₺147 million), had been stored in the room as part of ongoing cases.
Security footage collected from Nov. 6 shows Erdal Timurtas entering the evidence room early in the morning with a market cart.
The images show him loading the bags of gold and silver into black garbage bags and placing them on the cart. He then walks out of the building at 07.40 with the bags.
Investigators also collected additional footage showing his movements inside the courthouse on other dates. After reviewing these images, prosecutors launched a wide investigation and began questioning all staff in the department, including the unit’s administrative officer.
According to the findings, the supervising prosecutor had last inspected the evidence safes on Oct. 2. At that time, the gold and silver were still inside.
Research from police teams shows that Erdal Timurtas flew to England with his wife and two children on Nov. 19 at 8:22 a.m. from Sabiha Gokcen Airport. He had made a previous trip to England and had also obtained an assignment letter from the courthouse in March as part of a visa application.
His wife works as a temporary teacher at a primary school in Esenyurt. People around her told reporters that she had mentioned plans to move to England after securing a visa.
After leaving Türkiye, Erdal Timurtas sent messages to acquaintances. He wrote, “I sold the goods. May God bring ruin to your trade.” He also wrote, “I sold the house, and I sold the belongings. Do not call or ask about me.” In earlier WhatsApp messages he told colleagues, “Leave me alone. Do not call me.”
Police detained evidence officer Kemal D., whose keys opened the safes. A court later ordered his arrest on charges of “embezzlement.”
The judge ruled that there was strong suspicion based on camera footage, witness statements, phone records, and the scale of the missing items.
In his testimony, Kemal D. denied any involvement and said he worked in the room for fourteen years and opened the safes only during evidence intake and scheduled inspections.
He claimed that Erdal Timurtas knew where he kept the key and had access to all parts of the evidence room. He also told investigators that Timurtas had large gambling debts and often borrowed money from colleagues.
Kemal D. described a WhatsApp group where Erdal Timurtas sent several messages before disappearing. He recalled messages in which Timurtas wrote, “Leave me alone,” “My relationship with my wife is bad,” and later, “I sold the house and the belongings.” He said the unit became worried that Timurtas might harm himself.
He also stated that workload in the department had been heavy because of weapon confiscation procedures in November. He said only he and Timurtas worked in the storage area, and he believed Timurtas could access any location where he also had access.
Prosecutors continue to analyze security recordings from the courthouse and search the former home addresses of the suspects. Police did not find any stolen material during the searches. Officers are now reviewing footage from the school where Timurtas’s wife worked and the surrounding area.
A warrant remains active for both Erdal Timurtas and his wife, who left Türkiye with their two children. The investigation into how the gold and silver were removed from one of the courthouse’s most restricted areas is ongoing.
Istanbul authorities uncovered an unrelated corruption case in November involving seized customs goods.
The operation focused on Muzzeyyen Yazici, a senior official at the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization, and Climate Change. She worked as the head of the Istanbul National Real Estate Movables and Liquidation Branch, which handled goods confiscated at customs depots.
Investigations showed that Yazici and her son, Ahmet Yazici, controlled a scheme worth millions of Turkish lira.
Officers found that goods taken from customs depots were removed, stored in private warehouses, and then sold in the market.
These items included fake luxury watches, bags, glasses, perfumes, clothing, and other products that should have been destroyed or distributed legally through municipal channels.
According to court records, Yazici used two methods. The first involved removing items that were marked as “destroyed” and selling them.
The second involved preparing documents that showed deliveries to municipalities for social assistance programs, even though far larger quantities of goods were removed from depots.
Yazici reportedly had her son rent a large warehouse in Gebze, and officers later seized truckloads of products that were marked as destroyed but were still intact. They also found goods that carried investigation numbers and the names of the police units that had confiscated them.
Yazici told the court, “I gave the incoming products to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) organization’s social affairs units. These went to municipalities through official paperwork.” She also denied the unlawful sale of goods, as did her son. Fourteen people were detained in the operation, and nine, including Yazici and her son, were sent to jail.
Depot workers told investigators that they believed the goods would go to municipalities for distribution to people in need. They said they followed Yazici’s instructions and did not know that the items were being sold.
This case remains separate from the Buyukcekmece Courthouse theft but drew public attention because it involved the disappearance of state-held property from secure administrative units.
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