Testimony of a businessperson claiming he bribed Ekrem Imamoğlu to receive a building permit has added to the legal woes of the arrested mayor of Istanbul from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).
The latest statement reported by Sabah newspaper dates back to Imamoğlu’s tenure as mayor of the far-flung Istanbul district of Beylikdüzü. In the meantime, an Istanbul court on Friday ordered the release of the head of a company of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) who was arrested alongside Imamoğlu in March when he decided to collaborate with authorities.
The newspaper reported earlier this month that Imamoğlu was bribed with a posh villa in return for approving a land deal for a housing development in Beylikdüzü. The contractor of the project shed light on details of the incident in his testimony to investigators, Sabah reported on Saturday.
The contractor, identified as A.K., was among the suspects questioned by prosecutors after Imamoğlu was arrested in March along with dozens of other suspects, mostly IBB officials and businesspeople, for running a criminal network thriving on bribery and extortion.
A.K. said he handed over a villa in Istanbul’s Büyükçekmece district to Imamoğlu in 2016 in exchange for approval of the housing project he built in central Beylikdüzü.
A.K., a businessperson whose company also constructed a shopping mall in the Bakırköy district that the IBB under Imamoğlu reportedly threatened to shut down when its operator refused to pay bribes, said he applied to the Beylikdüzü municipality for a building permit years ago for his “Metro Home” project.
“I was kept waiting and when I probed the cause of the delay, they told me to speak to Tuncay Yılmaz,” he said.
Yılmaz, who was detained along with Imamoğlu last month, was the manager of Imamoğlu’s family company for construction.
“He told me that I can be granted the permit if I let them choose one of the villas I built in Büyükçekmece. I had to accept their proposal,” he said.
A.K. said he already had plans and fees ready for the project he intended to build in Beylikdüzü, but the municipality, then run by Imamoğlu, kept stalling him for final approval.
“Municipal officials told me to talk to Yılmaz. I knew I would not be granted a permit, so I accepted his proposal (to gift Imamoğlu a villa),” he said.
A.K. said Imamoğlu and his wife visited the villa while it was still under construction and asked for some modifications, as well as free furniture and landscaping services.
“They picked the luxury brands to furnish the place, and I did what they’ve asked me for. It cost me some TL 600,000,” A.K. said.
Muhammed Ömer Tüncel, an assembly member of the Beylikdüzü municipality representing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), told Sabah earlier this month that the housing development, situated next to the Beylikdüzü municipality building, enjoyed special privileges thanks to Imamoğlu.
Tüncel said that the project was approved in 2007 by the IBB on the condition of a limit to building construction in proportion to the total size of the land on which it would be built. This limit was reduced by the Beylikdüzü municipality in 2016 when Imamoğlu was in office.
“Thus, the construction company was able to build on extra land corresponding to about 68,000 square meters (731,945 square feet) or an area for about 680 more apartment flats,” he said, noting that the district municipality ignored the IBB’s original permit.
“As a result, the company profited about TL 4.7 billion (around $125 million),” Tüncel said.
“Regulations say a construction limit on land can only be expanded if it involves urban transformation (rebuilding of houses and other buildings for purposes of better safety against natural disasters). This was not the case,” Tüncel stated. He told the newspaper that Justice and Development Party (AK Party) assembly members sought a response from the municipality over the issue, but the municipality has been quiet.
Imamoğlu rose to prominence as Istanbul mayor when the CHP won the municipal seat in Istanbul after years of AK Party rule. Prior to that, he served as mayor of Beylikdüzü between 2014 and 2019.
The CHP has launched rallies and incited riots after Imamoğlu’s arrest on charges of corruption related to his tenure as Istanbul’s mayor. It claims Imamoğlu’s arrest is politically motivated as the party nominated him for the next presidential election, but the government says that the CHP’s claim and pro-Imamoğlu rallies are simply an attempt to cover up the mayor’s alleged wrongdoings, ranging from rigging public tenders to taking bribes.
Suspect collaborates
Last Friday, authorities ordered the release with judicial control for Murat Abbas, who was the director of Kültür A.Ş., a subsidiary of IBB, after he invoked a law offering lenient sentences for those collaborating with investigators. It is unclear what Abbas told investigators, but his statements may shed light on allegations Imamoğlu and the criminal network he allegedly runs faced.
Some media outlets reported that Abbas told prosecutors how Murat Ongun and Ertan Yıldız, two top municipality officials, obtained millions of Turkish liras from a company in charge of a digital museum for the CHP. No court date is set yet for Imamoğlu and others.
Abbas, a veteran of the music industry and a radio editor, was appointed as head of Kültür, IBB’s subsidiary focusing on culture and arts, in 2020. Prosecutors say the subsidiary was used to cover up the municipality’s irregularities.