Ali Emre Ballı, chair of the Financial Institutions Association (FKB), was found dead inside a vehicle in İstanbul’s Çekmeköy district. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into his death.
Residents noticed the vehicle in a vacant lot and alerted police and medical teams. Ballı, 46, was found dead in the driver’s seat. The vehicle was working.
An initial examination indicated that Ballı died of a gunshot wound, possibly a suicide.
Ballı’s name had recently surfaced in an investment fund investigation in which 85 people were arrested over the past two weeks.
At an early stage of the investigation, prosecutors sought asset restrictions against 30 people, including Ballı. The measures against him were later lifted following statements taken and evidence collected.
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News reports had also identified Ballı as a business partner of Mustafa Yazıcı, the son of Hayati Yazıcı, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Born in Mersin in 1980, Ballı graduated from Sakarya University’s Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering.
Ballı held management positions and partnerships in companies operating in digital participation banking, financing, electronic money, payment systems and asset management. He also served as chair of the FKB, a professional organization with public institution status operating under Law No. 6361 on Financial Leasing, Factoring, Financing and Savings Financing Companies.
The association represents the financial leasing, factoring, financing, asset management and savings financing sectors. (AEK/VK)
