Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that legal proceedings had been initiated against 22 suspects in a simultaneous operation centered in Istanbul and conducted in Ankara as part of an investigation into MASAK’s Integrated Financial Intelligence System (EMIS).
Five of the suspects were apprehended and detained. Arrest warrants were issued for 16 suspects found to be abroad on charges of political or military espionage, while efforts to apprehend one suspect are ongoing.
EMIS at the center of the investigation
The investigation, coordinated by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and conducted by the Istanbul Provincial Police Department, uncovered findings concerning unauthorized operations targeting EMIS and the security of system records, Gürlek said.
The investigation found that individuals and companies linked to the clandestine structure of FETÖ/PDY had been influential in the development and maintenance of MASAK’s critical digital infrastructure between 2012 and 2018.
It was determined that AGMLAB A. Ş. had developed the EMIS software since 2012 and that partnership and management ties existed between the company, MRD A. Ş. and Barış Ata A. Ş., which was shut down under Decree-Law No. 667. Findings were obtained indicating that some shareholders of the companies had assumed senior responsibilities in FETÖ/PDY’s military and IT structures.
Gürlek said that those individuals included figures believed to have operated at responsible levels within the organization’s Naval Forces, IT, defense industry and gendarmerie structures. It was determined that a significant portion of these individuals had left Türkiye before or shortly after the July 15 coup attempt, he said.
Review of system records
Technical examinations found that the protection system for the List of Politically Exposed Persons had been disabled, after which searches were conducted on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, his relatives and several ministers.
Technical findings indicated suspicious circumstances concerning the integrity of some records in the system and the possibility that certain data fields had later been deleted. The investigation also examined the absence of transaction logs that would allow the retrospective auditing of actions performed by users with administrator privileges.
Two companies seized
AGMLAB A. Ş. and MRD A. Ş. were seized by court order as part of the investigation. The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund was appointed as trustee to the two companies.
Gürlek said the investigation covered not only allegations that state institutions had been infiltrated through personnel, but also allegations concerning the IT infrastructure of critical financial intelligence systems.
Statements to be taken from former MASAK presidents
It was announced that judicial authorities would take statements from three former presidents who served as head of MASAK during the relevant periods.
