16.07.2026 14:20
Within the scope of the investigation launched against the Ahbap Association, its president, artist Haluk Levent, was arrested and placed in the Karatepe Penitentiary in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ. Meanwhile, comedian Deniz Gökçe, who was arrested a few days ago, was also placed in the same prison.
Within the scope of the investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against the Ahbap Association, 25 suspects, including association president Haluk Levent, were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police department. Of the suspects brought before the Criminal Judgeship of Peace, 14 individuals, including Haluk Levent, were arrested, while the others were released under judicial supervision.
REFERRED TO KARTEPE PENAL INSTITUTION
Arrested Haluk Levent was brought from Istanbul to Karatepe Penal Institution in the Çorlu district of Tekirdağ by minibus around noon today. After his procedures, Levent was placed in the prison.
FIRST INVESTIGATION: AHBAP'S FINANCIAL STRUCTURE AND 80 MILLION TL ALLEGATION
In his statement at the prosecutor's office, Haluk Levent firmly denied the allegations in the first investigation file regarding the association's financial structure and the use of collected donations for personal gain.
Levent, who made a defense regarding the approximately 80 million TL in suspicious money movements that were the subject of debate in the file, stated the following:
“I did not touch a single kuruş of the association. I did not use the association's assets for my personal benefit. A perception and conspiracy operation was carried out over the 80 million TL.”
Levent's lawyer also took the floor within the scope of this file, arguing that for the crime of "laundering property values originating from crime" to legally exist, there must be a "predicate crime," but no such crime exists in the file.
SECOND INVESTIGATION: 60 MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS
The second leg of the investigation involved millions of dollars worth of real estate transfers and money transfers conducted through third parties.
The famous artist, who made a very brief defense against the allegations regarding the transfer of approximately 60 million dollars worth of real estate, stated that the situation was a commercial matter and defended himself as follows:
“The subject of the investigation is merely a debtor-creditor relationship. I have not committed a crime; I am innocent.”
Levent's lawyer, however, claimed that the value of the real estate was not 60 million dollars as alleged, and stated that all sales and transfer transactions were carried out in accordance with the law, entirely under the free will of the parties.
ALL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE AHBAP OPERATION
Under the coordination of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the Istanbul Police Department Financial Crimes Branch Directorate had conducted work to prevent the crimes of "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crime," "qualified fraud," and "laundering property values originating from crime," and to apprehend the suspects.
In this context, as a result of MASAK reports prepared regarding Ahbap Association employees, account movement analyses, and technical and physical surveillance studies, it was determined that the suspects had high-amount money movements inconsistent with their financial profiles, carried out high-amount money transfers among themselves, transferred large sums to gambling accounts and placed bets, thereby losing large amounts of money, and also conducted a large number of chain land registry transfer procedures among themselves within a short period.
Within the scope of the ongoing investigation, 17 suspects, including singer Haluk Levent, the founder of the association, who were identified as being connected to Ahbap Association members and employees, were taken into custody in an operation organized on July 12. During the continuation of the work, 9 more suspects were apprehended.
While 1 of the suspects was released from the police department after his procedures, 25 suspects were referred to the courthouse.
In a simultaneous operation organized by the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Branch Directorate in Istanbul, Izmir, Kocaeli, and Muğla, 17 more suspects were taken into custody.
Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the procedures before the judgeship of the 25 suspects, including the association's founder singer Haluk Levent, who were taken into custody and referred to the courthouse, were completed.
The Criminal Judgeship of Peace decided to arrest 14 suspects, including Haluk Levent, and to impose judicial supervision measures on 11 suspects.
The names of those arrested are as follows:
"Haluk Levent, Ece Güner, İlker Çetin, Nurdan Eriş, Yusuf Can Ertit, Kemal Ötünç, Şehmuz Baştuğ, Abdülcevat Özkan, Emrah Gödeliner, Erhan Dökmeci, Halil Bostancı, Mehmet Ulu, Yeliz Kaya ve Zafer Yay."
Meanwhile, the procedures for the 17 suspects taken into custody by gendarmerie teams are ongoing.