An expert report prepared as part of the corruption investigation conducted by the Istanbul Anadolu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the CHP-run Şile Municipality revealed a major irregularity in the tender for the 35th International Şile Bezi Culture and Art Festival.
According to official records, the tender awarded to Sur Müzik, owned by Mehmet Sait Köse, for 38 million lira was actually carried out by Koşan Adam management company, owned by Haluk Levent's brother Berkant Acil. Sur Müzik was found to have been used merely as a front.
The report documented that CHP Mayor Özgür Kabadayı and Private Secretary Oğuz Kaçmaz received 4 million lira in cash bribes and brand-new iPhone 15 Pro Max phones in exchange for processing payments.
Although a total of 22.79 million lira was transferred from the municipality to pay artists, only 1.93 million lira was actually paid to them, and the remaining 20.86 million lira of public funds was found to have evaporated.
The investigation is ongoing.