URFA - TMO Urfa Office pocketed 15 million TL by showing the wheat used for bread as wheat used for pasta to evade taxes on 176,000 tons of grain brought to Urfa from Syria's Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê cities. A lawsuit was filed against 16 defendants, 4 of whom were imprisoned, including AKP members.
The grain seized from Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê cities of Northern and Eastern Syria, which Turkey entered with the paramilitary Syrian National Army (SMO) on October 9, 2019, was distributed in Urfa. It was revealed that there was corruption in the entire process of bringing 176 thousand tons of grain, which was transported to the Urfa Agricultural Products Office (TMO) from the grain warehouses of Şergirak (Sakkarat) and Silluk (Dehliz) of Ain Isa. Within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Urfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for "taking and giving bribes" and 'scheme to rig bids on tender, an indictment was prepared against 16 people including Head of Purchasing and Conservation Department of the General Directorate of Agricultural Products Gökhan Gürbüz, AKP former MP and CEB member Mazhar Bağlı's brother and TMO Urfa Branch Deputy Director Abdurrahman Bağlı. While 4 people were arrested, Gürbüz's file was separated because his residence was in Ankara.
BAĞLI'S BROTHER WAS ARRESTED
Within the scope of the investigation numbered 2020/24779 of the Prosecutor's Office, on 6 and 7 April, Urfa TMO Deputy Director Abdurrahman Bağlı, customs officer İbrahim Halil Öncel, Ortadoğu Shipping and Foreign Trade Company officer Ahmet, were charged with the crime of "bribery and bid rigging" at the Akçakale Customs Directorate. Yılmaz, İsmail Akdemir, Şafak Acar, İbrahim Bahşi, Abdullah Çelebi, Abuzer Yavuz, Ali Mengi, Ömer Faruk Altundal, Feyyaz Gündoğdu, İbrahim Cebe, İbrahim Direk, Mehmet Emin Özkan, Sadun Özkan and Hadi Altun were detained. Among the 16 detained persons, Abdurahman Bağlı, Ahmet Yılmaz, İsmail Akdemir and Şafak Acar were arrested by the 2nd Criminal Court of Peace in Urfa Courthouse and sent to Urfa Prison.
176 THOUSAND TONS OF GRAIN
In the report, it was noted that the company named Ortadoğu Shipping and Foreign Trade won 5 of the 6 tenders, and together with these tenders, it transported 126 thousand tons of wheat alone. In the report, it was noted that a total of 176,000 tons of grain were transported from Syria's Dehliz (Dehliz) and Al-Sakkarat (Şergirat) regions, as well as the cities of Rasulayn (Serêkaniye) and Telebyad (Girê Sipî).