Two well-known journalists and a musician are among five public figures summoned for questioning in a growing investigation into alleged financial misconduct at the AHBAP charity, the DHA news agency reported Wednesday.
Journalists Fatih Portakal and Ece Üner, lawyer Feyza Altun, musician Gökhan Özoğuz and television presenter Öykü Serter have been called to give statements to the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
It was not immediately clear whether they would be questioned as suspects or witnesses. The five are known to have publicly supported AHBAP and its fundraising campaigns.
The development came a day after a court jailed YouTube personality Oğuzhan Uğur and eight others pending trial, bringing the number of people in pretrial detention in the investigation to 28. Fifty-four people have been detained in several operations since the investigation began.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations of establishing a criminal organization, aggravated fraud and laundering assets derived from crime at AHBAP, a prominent humanitarian relief organization founded by rock musician Haluk Levent.
Levent and 13 others were jailed pending trial following the first operation last week, while 11 suspects were released under judicial supervision.
Four more suspects were subsequently jailed in a separate operation. AHBAP co-founder Alper Çelik was also later jailed.
A court has imposed precautionary restrictions on assets belonging to AHBAP and some suspects named in the investigation.
Citing reports prepared by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), prosecutors allege that some suspects carried out financial transactions inconsistent with their declared income, transferred substantial sums among themselves, sent money to gambling accounts and completed a series of property transfers within a short period of time.
The prosecutor’s office is also investigating allegations that donations collected in AHBAP’s name were transferred to accounts linked to suspects and used for purposes other than those intended.
Turkey’s state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has been appointed as trustee to four companies linked to the investigation.
A panel of experts has been tasked with examining AHBAP’s financial records, bank transactions and transfers between individuals and companies, with particular attention to donations collected following two devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023.
Levent has denied using the charity’s money or assets for personal benefit.
“I did not touch a single penny belonging to the association,” he told prosecutors.
Founded by Levent in 2017, AHBAP became one of Turkey’s most prominent civil society organizations through its volunteer network and large-scale response to the 2023 earthquakes, which killed more than 53,500 people in Turkey.
Its fundraising and relief operations attracted widespread public support as an alternative to government-led aid efforts.