Türkiye identifies 214 people, firms made about $3.8B from troubled funds

Turkish prosecutors have identified 214 individuals and companies they say made a combined TL 187.65 billion ($3.8 billion) from three of the investment funds at the center of the country’s fund turmoil, according to a report Friday.

Authorities are now seeking to recover what they describe as unjust gains and return money to affected investors, the Sabah newspaper said.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek told Sabah that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had passed the names to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).

The TMSF has started notifying those on the list formally that the money must be returned. The recovered funds will be collected in accounts set up for investors who suffered losses.

Who made gains

According to the investigation file, the list includes 141 individuals and 73 companies. The individuals are reported to have each made more than TL 100 million, for a total of about 100.68 billion. The companies made almost TL 86.98 billion in total.

The gains came from funds managed by Tera, Pusula and Hedef Portföy, three of the seven management companies whose funds are being liquidated.

Tera funds generated approximately TL 28 billion in gains for 102 individuals and TL 62.1 billion for 38 companies, the report said.

Pusula funds yielded around TL 69.7 billion for 19 individuals and approximately TL 10 billion for 20 companies. Hedef Portföy funds generated nearly TL 3 billion for 20 individuals and TL 14.9 billion for 15 companies.

Focus on mid-September withdrawals

Authorities launched a sweeping investigation and market intervention last month after suspected price manipulation in a number of thinly traded stocks triggered heavy losses and redemption pressures at investment funds.

The Capital Markets Board (SPK) halted trading in more than 130 funds on Sept. 17. Nearly half a million investors have been affected.

Gürlek said investigators were looking especially closely at people who sold fund holdings and withdrew their money on Sept. 13, 14, 15 and 16.

Prosecutors’ examination found that these people withdrew in advance, acting on information given to them. Gürlek said the investigation was being widened in light of these findings.

Payments underway

Separately, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said on Thursday that 17 funds open to trading on the TEFAS electronic fund platform had been liquidated and that the money owed to about 43,000 fund investors had been deposited in the relevant banks.

Şimşek said comprehensive regulations were being introduced to prevent a repeat, and that further measures would be taken beyond the existing rules.

Meanwhile, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) was due Friday to submit draft legislation governing the liquidation of the funds.

The proposed temporary law aims to establish a legal framework for the liquidations, prioritize the protection ⁠of small investors and set rules for payments.

Under the proposal, authorities would adjust amounts invested in and withdrawn from the funds for inflation, with interim payments of up to TL 1 million per investor targeted for October.

The bill would also include ⁠provisions for recovering losses from those held responsible and establish a legal basis for extraordinary liquidation proceedings.

Real estate ⁠is among the assets that could be sold to raise funds for investor payments, ⁠with the legislation setting out how such assets would be liquidated and the proceeds distributed.

DAILYSABAH