A criminal organization that provided Turkish citizenship to foreign individuals through illegal real estate sales has been dismantled, with more than 100 arrests.
In simultaneous operations conducted in 19 provinces, centered in Istanbul, an organized crime group that was selling fake real estate to foreigners so they could become Turkish citizens was stopped, and 106 suspects detained.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on his social media account that arrests were made for crimes such as “establishing an organization to commit a crime, being a member of an established organization, migrant smuggling, laundering assets obtained from crime, qualified fraud and forgery of private documents.”
The suspects were found to have sold real estate to 451 foreigners under false pretenses so they could become Turkish citizens along with their families. Procedures have been initiated to revoke the citizenship of these foreigners.
The suspects’ assets, including a holding company group, 5 different joint-stock companies, 1,240 apartments, 47 cars, 65 plots of land and bank accounts, were seized.
Minister Yerlikaya continued his statement by saying, “I congratulate our Governor, the Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, our Istanbul Provincial Police Chief, our Migrant Smuggling Branch Directorate, MASAK employees, and our heroic police officers.”
The alleged loss to the state in foreign currency by obtaining Turkish citizenship illegally amounted to $181.2 million.
Büyükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation following a tip-off to the Presidential Communications Center (CİMER) that some foreign nationals had acquired Turkish citizenship through irregular methods and expensively prepared expert reports.
It was determined that members of a criminal organization had conducted a fraudulent sale, and that these transactions involved obtaining financial benefits from foreign nationals seeking citizenship.
It was determined that the act, based on fraudulent, high-value appraisal reports, violated the purpose of the law governing citizenship acquisition through property acquisition, thus causing damage to the state.
Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that 1,198 Turkish citizenships were illegally acquired by 451 foreign nationals, along with their families, in exchange for $50,000 due to fictitious sales.
It has been learned that those who acquired Turkish citizenship illegally will have their citizenship revoked due to the crime of “violating the Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901.”