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Turkish authorities moved to freeze all assets belonging to former minister and former AK Party deputy chair Fatma Betul Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, over suspected insider trading in a publicly listed company's shares that have come under scrutiny as part of a broader probe into market irregularities.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Bureau for Financing Terrorism and Money Laundering sent requests to relevant institutions to impose the measure on the couple's assets, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.
Kaya, a physician and electrical engineer, served as family and social policies minister from 2016 to 2018 before returning to AK Party's senior leadership as deputy chair responsible for social policies later that year.
The broader investigation centers on suspected market manipulation and irregular transactions involving investment funds, particularly after some funds failed to meet investor redemption requests by mid-September.
The Capital Markets Board (CMB) has ordered the liquidation of 131 investment funds holding more than $19 billion in assets over six months. Ziraat Bank and Is Bank are overseeing the process, which affects 455,758 individual investors and assets estimated to be worth more than $19 billion in market value.
The CMB has so far filed criminal complaints over transactions involving shares of Katilimevim, Gundogdu Gida, Destek Finans and Ozata Denizcilik, citing suspected market manipulation following sharp gains in the stocks.
Kaya and her husband allegedly invested a combined ₺163.1 million ($3.3 million) in Ozata Denizcilik shares and later received about ₺2.2 billion ($44.9 million) from sales, including Kaya's reported ₺63.4 million investment and ₺1.3 billion in proceeds shortly before the September fund turmoil emerged.
Following the allegations, Kaya resigned from her party posts, and she and her husband reportedly transferred approximately ₺2.2 billion to a bank account designated by the Treasury and Finance Ministry for payments under the Capital Markets Law's effective-remorse provision.
The CMB has ordered the liquidation of 131 investment funds, estimated to hold assets worth more than $19 billion in market value, over six months. Ziraat Bank and Is Bank are overseeing the process, which affects 455,758 individual investors.
Within the probe, 56 people have been arrested, including Tera Yatirim Holding Chairman Emre Tezmen and Pusula Holding Chairman Serdar Turhan, who lead prominent portfolio management firms.
Former Turkish ambassador to the OECD Kerem Alkin and former Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) Deputy Governor Erkan Kilimci, who later served on Tera Yatirim's board, are also among the suspects.
Authorities previously froze the assets of 42 individuals, 45 companies and 19 investment funds. Restrictions on companies and investment funds were later lifted to allow them to continue operating, while asset freezes on individuals remained in place.
On Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced after a coordination meeting with economic officials and financial regulators that he had tasked the State Supervisory Council with reviewing recent investment fund transactions and ordered the creation of a fully authorized council, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, to oversee the liquidation process.
Erdogan also appeared to address the allegations surrounding Kaya without naming her during a speech at an AK Party meeting later that day. "Those who believe that their mistake is limited to themselves and affects only their own person are making a great mistake," he said.
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