Melis Sandal: Probe Now Cites 15.793 Billion Lira
Turkish media report that Mustafa Sandal's wife made 15.793 billion lira in funds, not 11.1 billion. She and her lawyers dispute the figures.
Melis Sandal, wife of Turkish singer Mustafa Sandal, is now named in the investment fund investigation with a figure of 15.793 billion Turkish lira. Until now the reported amount was 11.1 billion, and the new number comes from Turkish media citing a piece by journalist Halit Turan in the daily Sabah and in Gunaydin.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is leading the investigation into capital market fund transactions. Telegraf reported the new allegations on October 4.
Where does the new figure come from?
According to Turkish media, Melis Sutsurup Sandal made the following in total:
- 15 billion 793 million lira overall, according to the new allegations
- 13 billion 673 million lira in stock market earnings, which she invested in Tera’s TLY fund
- 2 billion 355 million 287 thousand lira in additional profit from that fund
The Istanbul paper T24 writes that the amounts come from official account statements included in the case file. The prosecutor’s document itself has not been published and has not been independently confirmed. The first two amounts add up to 16.028 billion, not 15.793 billion, and the sources do not explain how the figures relate to each other.
Her father, Cihan Sutsurup, is also on the list. He allegedly made a profit of 639,402,912 lira and is sixth on the list of people covered by the investigation.
What did Melis Sandal tell the Turkish media?
Her name is among the 42 people whose assets are covered by measures in this case. Nova reported her response on October 2, given to the paper Turkiye Gazetesi. She confirmed that she invested in the funds and made the transactions between July 1 and September 16, but says the figures are wrong.
“I put in money the day before the fund crisis happened. Because of that I am now suffering big losses. I did not make any unfair profit. On September 15 I invested more money than I withdrew. My money is still in there.”
Asked about the date of her first payout, she did not give an exact answer:
“Believe me, I can’t remember the exact date. Maybe it was July, but anything I said now would be guesswork. I have to look at the bank statement to give a precise answer. What I can say for certain is that the figures being mentioned are not accurate.”
She explained her stay outside Turkey this way:
“The truth is that I have been abroad since last year because of my son’s schooling. Of course, I will come back if I am asked to give a statement.”
According to Nova, she is in Dubai.
What do her lawyers say?
Her legal representative says the published amounts do not match the actual transactions and that the money flows can be checked in official bank and brokerage reports. He rejected the claim that money was moved to Dubai. Some payments abroad, the lawyers say, were installments for buying a property under contracts signed earlier.
Mustafa Sandal, the former husband of Emina Jahovic, had earlier publicly rejected having his name tied to this case. Turkish media carried his statement, translated from Turkish:
“Apart from being husband and wife, we have no joint business in the material sense.”
Has she been indicted?
According to Turkish media, a detention order was issued on September 29 against Melis Sandal and her father, which Nova called a warrant in its headline. The Turkish sources we reviewed do not say that an indictment has been filed or that she has been detained. No guilt has been established, so all the figures cited are treated as allegations.
We previously wrote about her denial from Dubai. Early reports spoke of money withdrawn from the funds, and the latest ones speak of profit. The investigation in Istanbul is ongoing, and the financial records should show which amounts are correct.
