Turkey froze assets tied to executives of nine financial firms, including three brokerages, today (Monday), widening a criminal probe into collapsed investment funds. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced the measures.

The order, which Gürlek set out in a post on X, covers board chairs and members, authorized signatories, their spouses and first-degree relatives.

Those covered cannot carry out transactions that reduce their assets without prosecutors’ approval, according to Turkish media reports of the minister’s statement.

The crisis has drained Turkey‘s fund industry. Turkish investment funds lost 510 billion liras (about $11 billion) in assets between the end of August and September 18, according to Central Securities Depository data cited by Bloomberg, and the Borsa Istanbul All Shares Index fell 10% last week.

That slide erased about $51 billion from the value of Turkish stocks, the biggest weekly drop since March 2025, Bloomberg reported.

On Friday, FinanceMagnates.com reported that Turkish police had detained 175 people in an alleged forex and crypto fraud network that moved about $266 million.

Nine Firms Named in the Freeze

The firms are Pusula Finans Holding, Pusula Yatırım Menkul Değerler, Tera Yatırım Menkul Değerler, Tera Portföy Yönetimi, Hedef Holding, Hedef Portföy Yönetimi, Bulls Yatırım Menkul Değerler, Bulls Portföy Yönetimi and Ufuk Yatırım Yönetim ve Gayrimenkul.

Three of them, Tera Yatırım, Pusula Yatırım and Bulls Yatırım, are brokerage firms rather than fund managers or holding companies. Tera Yatırım’s shares trade on Borsa Istanbul.

Turkish brokerages already operate under strict retail rules. In 2017, the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (SPK) capped forex leverage at 1:10 and set a TRY 50,000 minimum deposit.

XTB cited those restrictions when it closed its Turkish subsidiary in 2018.

Capital.com said last year it was seeking a local license.

To enforce the freeze, authorities notified the Turkish banking and participation banking associations, the land registry, notaries, maritime and civil aviation authorities and the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).

Fifteen Detained Over KatılımEvim Shares

Gürlek also said prosecutors had opened proceedings against 25 suspects over trading in shares of KatılımEvim Tasarruf Finansman, a savings finance company listed under the ticker KTLEV. Police detained 15 of them, and 10 are still being sought.

The operation followed a September 17 inspection report by the SPK that found market fraud in the stock, according to Turkish media.

The turmoil began in August, when tighter rules on equity funds with concentrated positions in thinly traded stocks forced selling, Bloomberg reported. Last week, funds run by Tera Portföy and Pusula Portföy said they could not meet redemption requests.

On Thursday, the SPK halted trading in funds of seven managers and ordered 131 of them liquidated, with Türkiye İş Bankası and Ziraat Bankası overseeing the process.

[#highlighted-links#]

On Sunday, the regulator extended the liquidation period to six months from three so that assets can be sold “under the most favorable terms possible.” It said the process could end sooner if conditions allow.

Police arrested Pusula Portföy Chairman Muhammed Yariz on Thursday and detained Hedef Holding Chairman Namik Kemal Gokalp, Destek Holding’s majority owner Altunc Kumova and Tera Portföy Deputy Chief Executive Ibrahim Bekci.

On Friday, Gürlek said four suspects had been arrested and 51 people barred from leaving the country.

Over the weekend, police detained Tera Holding Chairman Emre Tezmen, board members Emre Alkin and Kerem Alkin, and Pusula Holding Chairman Serdar Turhan, Bloomberg reported.

Redemptions on Hold

Tera Portföy said in a filing to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) that it had received about 300 billion liras of redemption requests in a short period, and had paid those made on September 16-18 for four of its funds.

Other payments stopped after Takasbank blocked its accounts at the end of September 18, the company said, adding that it was following the process with the authorities so investors can reach their savings.

Funds across the industry recorded net outflows of 411 billion liras from the end of August to September 18, according to fund-analysis platform Fonbul, with market losses accounting for the rest of the decline.

The benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index fell 2.6% by 10:09 a.m. Istanbul time on Monday.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.RegulationRead More

You might also be interested in reading Nigerian prison fails to bring Binance exec to court.