04.04.2025 23:51
In the corruption investigation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), the statement of the former driver of Serdal Taşkın, the former General Manager of Kültür AŞ, has been obtained. The driver, O.C., claimed that Murat Ongun and Taşkın engaged in irregular tender and brokerage activities at the instruction of Ekrem İmamoğlu. O.C. stated that he witnessed these events during his duties, saying, "İmamoğlu had Taşkın carry the money; I saw these bags in the car."
The corruption investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was removed from his position as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), and 99 suspects regarding charges of "being a leader of a criminal organization," "being a member of a criminal organization," "bribery," "extortion," "qualified fraud," "illegally obtaining personal data," and "interfering with a tender" is ongoing.
PROVIDED NAMES OF 4 COMPANIES As a witness in the investigation, A. Ş stated that he worked as a manager at Sev Advertising Company between 2019 and 2023, and that the partners of this company were Alihan Aydın, Alper Aydın, and Ahmet Uruç. A. Ş mentioned that he did not see the company receiving tenders from IMM, and after leaving in 2023, he established his own company, saying, "They may have received tenders from the Metropolitan Municipality or its affiliated companies after I left; I have no knowledge of this. Generally, well-known large firms like the Kapki family’s company Advercity, the İlbak family’s company, and the Subaşı family’s company, Urban Medya, would take these outdoor advertising tenders. Besides these large companies, there were hardly any others that received tenders. These large companies also did not leave these tenders to other companies."
FORMER DRIVER REVEALED ONE BY ONE Witness O. C recounted that he started working as a contracted officer at Kültür AŞ immediately after Ekrem İmamoğlu was elected mayor in 2019. He explained that he served as the driver for Serdal Taşkın, who was the General Manager of Kültür AŞ and also the Communication Coordinator, for 2 years, and stated that he continues to work as a responsible person at the Turkish World Culture Neighborhood Museum of Kültür AŞ.
Former General Manager of Kültür AŞ, Serdal Taşkın MEETINGS IN BEYLİKDÜZÜ O. C stated that he had a lot of information about where Taşkın went, who he spoke with, and where he held meetings because he was always by his side during the times he drove him, saying, "Serdal Taşkın would meet at least twice a week with Murat Ongun, Murat Kapki, Hüseyin Koksal, Necati Özkan, and Fatih Keleş, who were part of Ekrem İmamoğlu's team regarding outdoor advertising. They would gather at Mado in Beylikdüzü. There was a room on the lower floor of Mado that was closed to the public, and they would meet there. We would wait outside with a person named Servet, who was Hüseyin Köksal's driver."
“MEETINGS WERE HELD TWICE A WEEK, ATTENDED BY IMAMOĞLU HIMSELF” According to what he understood from the conversations, O. C stated that business, tenders, and illegal matters related to outdoor advertising were discussed in these meetings, saying, "After the meetings, Murat Ongun and Serdal Taşkın would leave with bags that I thought contained money. Sometimes I know that these bags were deposited into Serdal Taşkın's private safe at the Nişantaşı branch of Vakıfbank. Sometimes, with some money he referred to as personal funds, I was helping him buy foreign currency and gold by negotiating currency rates, as my family is in the currency exchange and jewelry business and I have connections in the Grand Bazaar. Besides these secret meetings held at Mado in Beylikdüzü, there were also meetings attended by Ekrem İmamoğlu himself, along with the aforementioned individuals, which were held at Hüseyin Köksal's textile company in Beylikdüzü, again twice a week. I can also testify that they left with bags and discussed irregular tenders and illegal activities in these meetings."
“I SAW THE MONEY BAGS IN THE CAR” ALLEGATION O. C expressed that during his two-year tenure as a driver, he witnessed that these irregular transactions were discussed every day, and he observed that commissions were taken along with many irregular meetings and conversations, stating, "As far as I can see, irregular tender and brokerage activities are carried out through the individuals I mentioned above, organized by Murat Ongun and Serdal Taşkın at the instruction of Ekrem İmamoğlu. I witnessed many of these because I was Taşkın's personal driver and had a role in the protocol. I also saw that these bags, which were the subject of the news, were carried by Taşkın for Ekrem İmamoğlu, and they were in the car. The secret meetings I mentioned above were generally held between 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM."
“THEY GAVE THE DIGITAL BOARD JOB TO ILBAK HOLDING FOR 3 YEARS” Witness O. S stated that he is the owner of Popüler Medya company and that his brother E. S is also involved with companies in the outdoor advertising sector. O. S mentioned that they worked together until the 2019 municipal elections, saying, "Since I was living in Ankara at that time, my brother was our representative in Istanbul. After the municipal elections, in 2020, he received a metro and digital board job from the municipality. He made a large investment, with 70% being debt, for this job. Later, they took this job from Panofeet Reklam AŞ, which is the company my brother is responsible for, and after holding it for 15 days under the municipal company İstanbul Reklam AŞ, they gave it to Ilbak Holding for 3 years. At the end of the contract, they renewed the contract with Ilbak Holding again."
“WHEN IMAMOĞLU BECAME MAYOR, THE PERMISSION PROCESS CHANGED” O. S expressed that he warned his brother to resist this injustice, continuing, "Despite my advice to use all his rights, including legal actions against the municipality, my brother did not pursue these paths. He was intimidated by the municipality and submitted. After this incident, we separated all our commercial activities from my brother. I also had some advertising permit requests from the municipality on behalf of my company. None of these were accepted. The places I requested permits for are advertising areas owned by private individuals. Before the 2019 municipal elections, the permission process was managed by the Municipal Urban Design Directorate. After paying the necessary taxes, there was no problem in obtaining permits, but after Ekrem İmamoğlu was elected mayor, this process changed. The permission processes became more difficult, and some money was demanded in exchange for permits from companies like ours.
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"RENTAL IS ATTEMPTED TO BE ESTABLISHED ON A LEGAL BASIS BY COLLECTING ECRİMİSİL" O. S, who stated that he personally applied for an advertising space on the D-100 highway in Çağlayan, said, "They did not allow me under the pretext that no advertisements can be placed here. A year later, permission was granted to someone else for the same place. There are documents of these correspondences as well. I will submit them to your prosecutor's office within a week. Again, advertising media belonging to private individuals and the municipality are being rented to affiliated companies by collecting ecrimisil fees. Rental is being attempted to be established on a legal basis by collecting ecrimisil. Furthermore, permission was not granted for the advertising space we used at the construction of the MÜSİAD General Center located on the E-5 in Yenibosna, which was advertised by TRT. The reason given was that TRT had previously taken the İSPARK area located in Taksim Tepebaşı for its own use. Of course, they said this verbally. In other words, the municipality is making arbitrary applications according to its own understanding without adhering to laws and regulations." he stated.
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