Turkish police detained 12 people, including illusionist Aref Ghafouri and former footballer Gökhan Gönül, in raids across five provinces on Tuesday as part of an investigation into alleged stock market manipulation.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said prosecutors are investigating a total of 25 suspects for “information-based market fraud” under Turkey’s Capital Markets Law. The case stems from reports by the Capital Markets Board (SPK), the country’s securities regulator, alleging artificial price and volume movements that caused losses for small investors.
The suspects include seven people already jailed in separate cases, the 12 detained on Monday and six others who are still being sought. Police carried out raids in İstanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Samsun and Kahramanmaraş.
Among those taken into custody were Ghafouri, a Turkish-Iranian illusionist who rose to fame on Turkey’s version of “Got Talent,” and Gönül, a former right back who played for Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş and made 66 appearances for Turkey’s national team.
Prosecutors said all 25 suspects are accused of forming a criminal organization and using misleading information to move share prices of Avrupa Yatırım Holding A.Ş., a Turkish investment-holding company active in healthcare, energy, construction and software.
In a written statement carried by Turkey’s state broadcaster TRT, the prosecutor’s office said regulators had identified sharp price and volume swings that “did not follow the ordinary course of events,” adding that the moves created artificial price increases that harmed individual investors.
Turkey has seen a surge in retail stock trading as people try to protect savings from high inflation, leading to rapid gains in some stocks and a rise in market-manipulation cases.
Over the past year the country has stepped up market‑manipulation and disinformation probes, including investigations into misleading stock‑market news and talk of tougher penalties for funds and other players accused of distorting prices.