İstanbul's Üsküdar district mayor detained in 'corruption' investigation
Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş and five others were detained in İstanbul today as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in building permit procedures.
The İstanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting the investigation on allegations of bribery, extortion through abuse of office, and forming and leading a criminal organization.
Police raided 11 addresses across İstanbul and seized digital equipment, the prosecutor's office said in a statement. The investigation was launched following tipoffs, statements from contractors and testimony from some suspects.
The investigation is the latest in a series of "corruption" probes targeting opposition-run municipalities since March last year. More than 35 mayors have been detained in those investigations, including mayors of major cities such as İstanbul, Bursa, Adana and Antalya. The opposition views these operations as politically motivated efforts orchestrated by the goverment to weaken their rivals.
Most of these municipalities have remained under the control of the opposition because acting mayors to replace suspended mayors are elected by municipal councils, where opposition parties generally hold a majority.
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The other people detained this morning were Üsküdar's deputy mayor F.D., mayoral adviser U.M., chief of staff A.K., and N.A., general director of Kent AŞ, a municipal subsidiary operating in urban renewal projects.
Alleged irregularities
According to the prosecutor's office, the municipality involved the Kent AŞ subsidiary in building permit procedures to generate income, despite the subsidiary lacking authority to issue permits.
Prosecutors claimed that municipal staff pressured contractors to sign “consultancy service” contracts with the subsidiary. Kent AŞ signed contracts worth a total of 1.08 billion liras (~47.5 million US dollars) with contractors and collected 361.4 million liras under these agreements, according to Financial Crimes Investigation Board findings.
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Kent AŞ head N.A. was also allegedly involved in determining how much money would be requested from contractors, including for turning a blind eye to regulatory violations at construction sites. Part of the money was distributed to municipal employees.
For major construction projects, payments from contractors were demansed in US dollars, according to the investigation file.
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(EMK/VK)