23.04.2026 01:18
In the operation conducted as part of the bribery investigation targeting the Uşak Municipality, 19 suspects who were detained were referred to the criminal court of peace with a request for their arrest. Among them, 16 people, including CHP Uşak Provincial Chairman Celalettin Çoban and Uşakspor President Özhan Özgöbek, were arrested. Three people were released under judicial control.
The statements of 19 suspects detained in the operation carried out within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Republic Prosecutor's Office into the crimes of "bribery," "extortion," and "bid rigging" against the Uşak Municipality have been completed at the prosecutor's office.
DETENTION ORDER FOR 16 PEOPLE
Among the 19 suspects, including CHP Uşak Provincial Chairman Celalettin Çoban and Uşakspor President Özhan Özgöbek, were referred to the criminal judgeship of peace with a request for detention, and 10 suspects were referred with a request for judicial control. Among them, 16 suspects, including Çoban and Özgöbek, were detained, and 3 suspects were released under judicial control conditions.
INVESTIGATION INTO UŞAK MUNICIPALITY
The Istanbul Republic Prosecutor's Office had initiated an investigation into the crimes of "bribery," "extortion," and "bid rigging" in relation to allegations of bid rigging in tenders organized by Uşak Municipality, demands for bribes from tradesmen for irregular transactions, and collection of large amounts of money under the name of aid/donations to Uşakspor, conducted by the Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau.
Within the scope of the investigation, a simultaneous operation was organized in Uşak, İzmir, and Istanbul by the Istanbul Police Department Financial Crimes Branch teams on April 20 to apprehend 29 suspects against whom detention orders had been issued.
In the operation, 29 suspects, including CHP Uşak Provincial Chairman Celalettin Çoban, Uşakspor President Özhan Özgöbek, municipal employees, and business people, were detained.
9 SUSPECTS HAD BEEN DETAINED
Within the scope of the investigation, Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, Deputy Mayor Halil Arslan, the municipality's Accounting and Finance Manager Hüseyin Yaman, Private Secretary Manager Hasan Doğukan Kurnaz, official driver Murat Altınkaya, municipal personnel Cihan Aras and İsmail Özçelik, Uşak Haber Media Company Owner Murat Baş, and Mustafa Yalım had been detained.
Judicial control measures had been applied for suspects Kenan Arslan, Seher Akay, Aslıhan Aksoy, and Salih Sönmez.