Uzan lands 3.5 years jail for phone cards
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Haziran 17, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The leader of the Young Party, or GP, and four associates were sentenced to three and a half years in prison for trying to illegally seize and sell millions of phone cards from the Telsim Telecommunication Company.
Cem Uzan’s GP received 7.25 percent of the votes in 2002 elections.
Uzan received 7.25 percent of the votes that year. Since then, the party’s support has been dropping gradually. In the 2007 general elections, it received 3.03 percent of the votes. The Telsim Telecommunications Company belonged to Uzan’s family at the time of the phone card incidents.
The Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, seized most of Uzan Holding’s assets, including Telsim, in 2002 for the debts incurred by İmar Bank, which also belonged to the group.
Telsim was later sold by the TMSF to Vodafone in 2007.
Special compartment
During the seizure of Uzan’s assets, around 3.6 million phone cards were found in a special compartment next to the swimming pool at Cem Uzan’s villa.
In addition to Uzan, former Telsim General Manager Vasıf Soner Çokbilgin, Simkart Logistics Bureau Chief Taner Gökart, Director Tamer Güzel and Deputy Chief of Technical Department Semih İncedayı were sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment.
The suspects were charged with producing 48 different types of pre-paid phone cards. The accused had produced close to 100 million of these cards outside of the normal production process. Uzan’s associates had allowed him to take the cards without any paperwork, the prosecutor said.
The investigators also found two empty delivery notebooks that would have allowed for the sale of the cards, the prosecutor said.
If the appeals court approves the sentences, Uzan will go to prison.
Uzun’s Genç Party would not have been able to enter Parliament in 2007 since the 3.03 percent of votes it received was not enough to pass the legal threshold of 10 percent. Uzan’s campaigning tactics in that period had also come in for criticism.
Uzan received 7.25 percent of the votes that year. Since then, the party’s support has been dropping gradually. In the 2007 general elections, it received 3.03 percent of the votes. The Telsim Telecommunications Company belonged to Uzan’s family at the time of the phone card incidents.
The Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, or TMSF, seized most of Uzan Holding’s assets, including Telsim, in 2002 for the debts incurred by İmar Bank, which also belonged to the group.
Telsim was later sold by the TMSF to Vodafone in 2007.
Special compartment
During the seizure of Uzan’s assets, around 3.6 million phone cards were found in a special compartment next to the swimming pool at Cem Uzan’s villa.
In addition to Uzan, former Telsim General Manager Vasıf Soner Çokbilgin, Simkart Logistics Bureau Chief Taner Gökart, Director Tamer Güzel and Deputy Chief of Technical Department Semih İncedayı were sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment.
The suspects were charged with producing 48 different types of pre-paid phone cards. The accused had produced close to 100 million of these cards outside of the normal production process. Uzan’s associates had allowed him to take the cards without any paperwork, the prosecutor said.
The investigators also found two empty delivery notebooks that would have allowed for the sale of the cards, the prosecutor said.
If the appeals court approves the sentences, Uzan will go to prison.
Uzun’s Genç Party would not have been able to enter Parliament in 2007 since the 3.03 percent of votes it received was not enough to pass the legal threshold of 10 percent. Uzan’s campaigning tactics in that period had also come in for criticism.