10.07.2024 22:20
The requested sentence for Dilan Polat and Engin Polat, who were arrested as part of a money laundering investigation, has been determined. In the indictment, a separate request for up to 40 years of imprisonment was made for each of the Polat couple. The indictment stated that the illegally obtained money was subjected to money laundering by being transferred to the system without being entered through the "cold wallet method".
The indictment prepared regarding Dilan Polat and Engin Polat, who are currently detained in prison as part of a money laundering investigation, requests a separate sentence of up to 40 years for each of them.
DETAILS REVEALED IN THE INDICTMENT PREPARED FOR THE POLAT COUPLE In the indictment prepared as a result of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, new details emerged regarding 16 suspects, including Dilan Polat, her husband Engin Polat, and their siblings Can and Sıla Doğu. It was stated that it was determined that an organized criminal organization led by the defendant Engin Polat operated the money laundering process in a coordinated manner, as explained in the introduction of the 75-page indictment prepared by the Terrorism and Organized Crimes Investigation Bureau, which was prepared for 28 suspects.
In the indictment, it was stated that Engin Polat established companies with his close relatives, most of whom were close family members, and that he had partnership and management with the defendant Dilan Polat in these companies, which were mostly established to operate in the beauty, cosmetics, and medical fields. It was emphasized that the majority of these companies had a suspicious accountant named Ahmet Gün.
In the indictment, it was stated that the majority of the purchases of the Polat group's companies, which were considered to be managed centrally, were made from companies in which Engin Polat's family members were partners or managers, and from suppliers who were somehow connected to target individuals. However, it was stated that these suppliers were actually companies with no real purchase, no declaration, no employees, and no banking transactions, and that the total amount of suspicious purchases, which had a strong suspicion of being fake, reached millions of liras.
MONEY LAUNDERING PROCESS INCLUDED IN THE INDICTMENT In the indictment, it was stated that Engin Polat made numerous luxury vehicle and real estate purchases through Milda Real Estate Automotive Company, and it was determined that the accumulated amounts deposited in Polat's and this company's accounts were directed towards real estate and vehicle purchases. The following evaluations were included in the indictment: "In the scope of our investigation file, it has been determined that the criminal organization, which operates in an organized manner under the leadership of the suspect Engin Polat, circulates the assets in the form of money obtained illegally through numerous companies they have established, and aims to make it difficult to track this money by issuing invoices based on fictitious goods and services, which do not comply with tax legislation, and by engaging in actions contrary to tax legislation. Finally, it has been understood that they collect the accumulated money mostly by cash withdrawal within the companies, and Engin Polat, who is the sole partner and manager of Milda Real Estate Automotive Industry and Trade Inc., keeps the money in the companies in the cleanest way, by depositing it into the bank accounts of the said company."
"TRANSFERRED USING THE COLD WALLET METHOD" In the indictment, it was stated that the illegally obtained money was subjected to money laundering by being transferred without being entered into the system using the "cold wallet method". It was evaluated that the organization also engaged in some real commercial activities due to the fame and recognition they achieved in a short period of time during these activities, in order to make it difficult to follow and control, which is the most distinctive aspect of money laundering crimes. It was emphasized in the indictment that Engin Polat's connection with the illegal betting organization and gang led by Derkan Başer was revealed through witness testimonies and evidence, and the statement of the secret witness Mert was included.
The secret witness Mert stated that he served as the director of two virtual betting sites operated by Veysel Şahin between 2014 and 2017, and said the following: "Derkan Başer and Engin Polat are close friends. Derkan Başer appointed Engin as the director of Jasmin Bet site. The duty of Engin Polat as the director of Jasmin Bet is to supervise and control financial actions, control the risk unit of the bets played. Engin served as the director of Jasmin Bet for about 3 to 5 months. When Veysel Şahin was arrested due to the virtual betting operation, Derkan Başer took control of the business and became responsible for external finance."
He also established his own finance company. When Derkan Başer was promoted to an external position and became responsible for external affairs, Engin Polat's position also improved, and Engin became one of the managers of external finance. The money deposited by the member of the site playing virtual bets actually goes to the POS accounts of the shell companies established by Engin Polat. The member playing bets does not know this at that moment.
"I DID NOT SEE DİLAN POLAT WITHIN THE SYSTEM" Later, when he looked at the statement, he could learn the name of the shell company to which the money was transferred from the POS number. In other words, Engin Polat needed to establish companies to use in the virtual betting business, and that is why so many companies were established. My information about Engin Polat's position in the virtual betting business, which I worked in for a period in the past, is limited to these. I did not see Dilan Polat within this system, I know her from social media."
In the indictment, it was emphasized that dozens of companies were established to conceal the large betting organization, and these companies were managed and owned by other suspects included in the investigation. Considering that Ahmet Gün, one of the suspects, carried out the organization of financial matters under the guise of a financial accountant in almost all of Engin Polat's criminal organization's companies, it was emphasized that all the suspects involved in the organization committed the crime of "Violation of the Law on the Organization of Betting and Games of Chance in Football and Other Sports" in a concerted action.
The indictment also stated that the defendant Engin Polat reached some individuals in order to ensure illegal gambling within the organization he established in relation to the fraudulent act subject to the investigation, created another source of income by receiving money in advance under the guarantee fee, tried to convince third parties to use their accounts to withdraw money coming from abroad, and made promises to people in this way.
"FOREIGN CURRENCY FLOW WAS MADE THROUGH THIRD PARTY ACCOUNTS" The indictment stated that Engin Polat aimed to earn money from both betting and account usage, and it was understood that he did not hesitate to victimize third parties while doing these jobs, and it was aimed to keep the flow of foreign currency from abroad alive by using the accounts of third parties, and it was stated that the illegal betting games, foreign currency, which is the source of money laundering, were tried to be included in the money laundering process and introduced into the country's financial system.
The indictment, which includes a report prepared by the Tax Audit Board Istanbul Sectoral 3 Audit Department, stated that the fake invoice amount of the companies was 489 million 309 thousand 777 liras, and this amount corresponded to 86 million 988 thousand 913 liras of Value Added Tax (VAT), and it was also stated that the companies issued fake invoices among themselves, and the amount of these was 117 million 443 thousand 863 liras, and 21 million 28 thousand 562 liras of it corresponded to the VAT amount.
The indictment emphasized that the total amount reached 214 million 786 thousand 65 liras due to the fact that other books were kept in addition to the books that should be kept by law, which would result in reducing the tax base, and this amount corresponded to 35 million 607 thousand 842 liras of VAT. It was also stated in the indictment that it was seen that the companies made payments of 46 million 103 thousand 895 liras to companies established only for the purpose of organizing fake invoices, which were organized outside the investigation and only for the purpose of issuing fake invoices.
FAKE INVOICES WERE ISSUED The indictment, which includes the irregularities of the companies subject to the investigation, stated that the criminal organization accepted fake invoices to their companies by using fake invoices obtained from outside, which did not reflect transactions that did not actually reflect a real trade, and fake invoices were also issued for non-existent sales of goods and services between companies.
The indictment stated that the illegal money was attempted to be concealed, a part of the real trade was also carried out in order to conceal the wealth created by the illegal betting, the beauty center and cosmetics sector, which have a reputation in the public and society, were preferred, and the fame achieved was used as an apparatus in this context, and even the taxes that should be paid were not paid and unjust gain was obtained by keeping them in the account, and it was emphasized that the amounts unjustly kept in the account should be considered as black money, except for tax crimes.
The indictment described the structure of the criminal organization, stating that Engin Polat was the leader of the organization and Alper Kürşat Polat, Sezgin Polat, Ahmet Gün, Dilan Polat, Mustafa Özalp, and Sinem Sıla Doğu were the managers of the organization.
In the prepared indictment, the public prosecutor included the following statements in the evaluation made throughout the file: "As a result of our investigation, it has been understood that the suspects, as stated above, tried to hide the proceeds of the crime obtained from illegal betting organization and other crimes by moving them through numerous companies they established, finally trying to package them in the company named Milda, in this context, they withdrew cash from the companies in the millions level, circulated them between the companies, and tried to launder through the company named Milda by depositing cash through this company with immovable properties and luxury vehicles to be purchased, and another method is that the unjust gains that have passed to the account are converted into crypto assets and made unregistered after being circulated dozens of times as if there were real commercial activities, and it has been found that the criminal organization subject to the investigation acted through its member who performs the duty assigned to him/her specifically at each stage, and it has been understood that the actions were carried out with the determination to commit crimes within a structure that continued over the years."
40-YEAR PRISON REQUEST FOR POLAT In the indictment, it was requested that Dilan and Engin Polat be punished with imprisonment from 20 to 40 years separately for a total of 3 different crimes, namely "establishing and managing an organization with the aim of committing a crime", "money laundering of assets derived from crime", and "violation of the Law on Organization of Betting and Games of Chance in Football and Other Sports Competitions". It was requested that other suspects be punished in varying proportions for different crimes.
WHAT HAPPENED? In the operations carried out on November 1, 2023, and thereafter in 6 provinces centered in Istanbul, 24 suspects, including Dilan Polat and her husband Engin Polat, were detained.During the investigation, a preliminary examination report was prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) regarding the suspects, including the Polat couple, whose digital materials and notebooks were seized in previous searches conducted in their companies. The report revealed that there was an inflow of 200 million lira through the method of issuing fake invoices in exchange for so-called trade to companies owned by family members from 3 liquidation companies mentioned in the report.
It was determined that the money was transferred among the companies owned by family members, and in the final stage, real estate and numerous vehicles were purchased in a company called Milda Real Estate, owned by Engin Polat. Following the detection of this, the Istanbul Financial Crimes Investigation Branch teams identified the identities of the suspects and carried out simultaneous operations in 43 addresses in Ankara, Yalova, Ordu, Kırklareli, and Manisa, all centered in Istanbul. The teams, who continue their work within the scope of the investigation, determined that a medical company owned by Dilan and Engin Polat gave the naming rights to another company in Ankara and that an attempt was made to transfer 1 million 800 thousand liras in the account of this company to the personal accounts of the partners.
16 of the suspects, including Dilan Polat, Engin Polat, and Sıla Doğu, were arrested. The court ruled for the appointment of trustees to 27 companies. In the monthly detention review on June 14, the Peace Criminal Court ruled for the release of Dilan Polat's siblings Can and Sinem Sıla Doğu, as well as Can Polat, Gökay Bekar, Halit Polat, Harun Abak, Metin Yılmaz, Mustafa Özalp, Nilgün Yılmaz, Uğurcan Ayyıldız, and Zekai Tepe, with judicial control measures, while the detention of the other 5 suspects was decided to continue.
In the indictment prepared after the completion of the investigation by the public prosecutor's office, the suspects were requested to be punished for "money laundering of assets derived from crime," "illegal gambling," "establishing an organization with the aim of committing a crime," and "being a member of an organization established with the aim of committing a crime." In the indictment, it was also requested that all the assets, including the real estate, vehicles, and similar properties owned by the 31 companies included in the investigation, be confiscated and transferred to the public.
The indictment approved by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office was sent to the Anatolian 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. After examining the indictment, the Anatolian 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance stated that the Heavy Penal Court is the competent court to conduct the trial, considering the increase factors in the requested penalties for the suspects, and returned the file to the prosecutor's office.
The Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office objected to the decision of the court to return the file, stating in its objection decision that the competent court can be determined based on the basic penalty and that the increase factor is not the basis for determining the court's jurisdiction.
With the acceptance of the prosecutor's objection, the file was accepted by the Criminal Court of First Instance. The trial of the defendants is expected to begin in the coming days.
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