16.10.2026 10:57
Upon the confession of the Parks and Gardens Director, who was arrested in the bribery and tender irregularities investigation at Esenyurt Municipality, while millions in foreign currency were recovered from locked safes in the empty apartment where the bribery money was hidden, the mother and cousin of Deputy Mayor Yusuf Ulutaş, who came with empty suitcases to take the money, were caught red-handed.
In the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into allegations of rigging tenders at Esenyurt Municipality and taking bribes from contractors, 9 suspects, including Deputy Mayor Yusuf Ulutaş, were arrested, while judicial control measures were imposed on 10 suspects. Within the scope of the investigation, based on the statements of Parks and Gardens Director İbrahim Doğancıoğlu, who was arrested and benefited from effective remorse, an operation was carried out at the secret address where the bribe money was kept.
CONFESSING DIRECTOR REVEALED THE SECRET APARTMENT
The development that changed the course of the investigation came with the prosecutor's statement of the arrested director İbrahim Doğancıoğlu. Doğancıoğlu confessed that, on the instruction of Deputy Mayor Yusuf Ulutaş, he rented an empty apartment in a complex in Küçükçekmece in the name of a friend and placed two special steel safes at this address for the purpose of storing bribe revenues.
HIS MOTHER AND COUSIN CAME TO THE HOUSE WITH SUITCASES
Acting upon the confession, police forces organized an operation at the address in question and identified two black steel safes in the apartment. While the teams were waiting for a locksmith to open the safes, Yusuf Ulutaş's mother Ayşe Ulutaş and his cousin Mustafa Zahit Seval entered the house with two empty suitcases and the apartment key. The suspects encountered police teams inside and were detained red-handed. It was learned that in their initial statements, the suspects said they had been directed to the address by Yusuf Ulutaş's lawyer.
FOREIGN CURRENCY WORTH MILLIONS SEIZED
During the body search of the detained suspects, the keys to the safes were seized, and the safes were opened after the safe codes were also given to the police teams. In the search, a large amount of euros and US dollars was seized from inside the safes. The judicial process regarding the incident continues meticulously.