A senior Turkish judge has been linked to a car payment made by an aide to alleged crime boss Ayhan Bora Kaplan, according to financial records cited in a money laundering case, the T24 news website reported Wednesday.
The case file includes a financial record showing that a vehicle payment was made in the name of Yüksel Kocaman, a member of Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals and a former Ankara chief public prosecutor. The payment was made from the account of Kaplan’s assistant, according to the report.
Records prepared by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) show that Kaplan’s assistant, identified as Sevda S., transferred 5,000 lira ($112) as a deposit and 338,650 lira ($7,595) as the remaining payment to Borusan Oto on October 2, 2019, with transaction descriptions referencing Kocaman. A BMW 3.20 was registered in Kocaman’s name one day later.
The findings were included in a police report submitted to prosecutors after MASAK data was examined as part of the investigation. The report identified the transaction as the largest cash movement in the assistant’s account between 2017 and 2024.
A separate police report prepared in April 2024 found that the BMW registered in Kocaman’s name was transferred in March 2020 as part of a vehicle exchange. Testimony from a car dealer said the vehicle was upgraded to a BMW 5.20 with an additional payment and later exchanged again for a Land Rover, with further payments reportedly made through Kocaman’s family.
Previous MASAK reports submitted to the case file also indicated that another defendant transferred funds to Kocaman under the description of rent.
Allegations involving Kocaman first surfaced shortly after Kaplan’s arrest in September 2023, including claims that he received a luxury vehicle and other benefits. Kocaman has denied the allegations, saying his assets come from family wealth.
Kocaman was serving as Ankara chief public prosecutor when the alleged payments were made and was later appointed to the Supreme Court of Appeals. Reports noted that at the time, the salary of a senior judge or prosecutor was approximately 15,000 lira ($336) a month.
Kocaman also came to public attention in Turkey when he visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his presidential palace with his bride on his wedding day and received gifts there in September 2020.
The visit was viewed as an indication of the current state of judicial independence, or lack thereof.
Shortly after the visit, he was appointed as a member of the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals by Turkey’s Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK).
Kaplan, known for his alleged close ties to former Turkish interior minister Süleyman Soylu, was sentenced to 68 years in prison in December 2024 on multiple charges including leading a criminal organization. His case has drawn attention due to alleged links between his network and figures in the judiciary and law enforcement.
Throughout the investigation and trial, Kaplan accused law enforcement and judicial officials of corruption. He claimed that his rise to power was facilitated by Ankara’s police force and judiciary, implicating figures such as Kocaman.
Kaplan’s allegations were supported by testimony from secret witnesses who testified in return for a reduced sentence. One of the witnesses claimed that Kocaman received luxury gifts, including a villa and a car, in exchange for protecting Kaplan’s criminal activities.
The Kaplan case has amplified tensions between Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). While President Erdoğan has largely remained silent, Soylu, who allegedly allowed Kaplan to operate with impunity in Ankara’s criminal underworld, dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated attack. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli defended Soylu, calling the allegations against him a “plot.”
The investigation has also led to a shake-up within Turkey’s law enforcement. Nine senior police officers, including Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik, were suspended for allegedly covering up Kaplan’s activities. Further arrests followed, including several officers accused of tampering with witnesses and disclosing classified information.
An appeals court later ordered a retrial in Kaplan’s case, and a new indictment was accepted in March 2025 as part of an expanded investigation.