Turkey’s trade minister denies 170 million lira fund withdrawal claim

Turkey’s Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has denied claims that he withdrew 170 million lira from an investment fund or closed his account before investigations began.

The claims concern investigations into seven portfolio management companies and the planned liquidation of 131 funds.

Bolat says he invested 37.8 million lira of family savings in sukuk, a type of Islamic financial certificate, in February 2024.

He says he did not withdraw from that investment and that official records show no 170 million lira withdrawal or account closure.

Bolat argues that the figure was created by adding up repeated records of payments for sukuk that had matured and purchases of new sukuk over 32 months.

The investigations were launched on 16 September, and some banks were assigned to handle the funds’ liquidation.

The investigations are not yet complete, so whether the funds were manipulated has not been established.