Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor on Tuesday filed an indictment against former Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, detailing how he abused office for personal enrichment.
The 4,000-page indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office lays out an extensive pattern of corruption, collusion, and abuse of public office during Imamoglu’s tenure as mayor.
The document, finalised after months of investigation, details how the municipal authority was systematically manipulated to serve political and personal interests.
Prosecutors describe a structured network operating under Imamoglu’s direction, involving more than 400 individuals — from senior officials to influential business figures — all tied to the manipulation of public tenders, bribery chains, and illicit financing schemes. Also the prosecutors charged Istanbul's jailed former mayor Ekrem Imamoglu with 142 offences.
In the indictment, Imamoglu faces charges including forming a criminal organisation, bribery, fraud, bid rigging, money laundering, and unlawful disclosure of personal data. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to 2,430 years.
Losses exceed $4B
According to the indictment, a public loss of 160 billion Turkish lira and 24 million dollars was detected.
The indictment states that the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) received a 69.5 billion Turkish lira loan from abroad for rail systems.
Of this amount, 19.9 billion lira was transferred to foreign financial institutions, and 13.9 billion lira was transferred to companies affiliated with the organisation, resulting in a total public loss of 39.9 billion lira.
Evidence cited in the indictment includes financial intelligence reports, encrypted communications, surveillance footage, and digital records, painting what investigators call a portrait of organised misconduct deeply rooted within the mayor’s administration.
At the centre of the file stand Imamoglu’s closest aides: municipal spokesperson Murat Ongun, IBB Sports Club chief Fatih Keles, Imamoglu Insaat head Tuncay Yilmaz, Beylikduzu Mayor Mehmet Murat Calik, and Imamoglu’s lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan.
Their roles, prosecutors say, were instrumental in maintaining a well-coordinated system of influence and financial gain that blurred the line between public duty and private enrichment.
Imamoglu has been in pretrial detention since March, when he was arrested along with dozens of others in a corruption investigation related to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
At the time, prosecutors stated the arrests were made under a financial probe into allegations of "establishing and leading a criminal organisation, accepting bribes, extortion, unlawfully recording personal data, and interfering with a tender".
