Emir Sarıgül, who is jailed in a money laundering investigation, has alleged in a supplementary statement that his father, Mustafa Sarıgül, handed a total of $350,000 to Yeni Parti leader Özgür Özel, CNN Türk reported on Sunday. The broadcaster said its correspondent Serdar Er relayed details that Emir Sarıgül had not included in his first statement to investigators.
According to CNN Türk, the account describes two separate cash deliveries. One allegedly took place in a vehicle outside a restaurant in Ankara's Ümitköy district, and the other was said to have been made inside a gift package containing scarves.
Why it matters
The allegation names the leader of a national political party and the father of the man making it, and it comes from inside an active criminal file rather than from a newsroom or a political rival. Mustafa Sarıgül is a sitting member of parliament, and CNN Türk reported that his status and parliamentary immunity were cited as the reason no action has been taken against him at this stage. Emir Sarıgül remains in custody, and his statement directly implicates his own father in the case.
The investigation itself has drawn attention for its scale. CNN Türk reported that transactions of €80 million and €100 million are under scrutiny, that more than 20 people are in custody, and that authorities are awaiting a report from Turkey's financial intelligence unit, MASAK, before analyzing account records in detail.
What the statement describes
CNN Türk reported that Emir Sarıgül tied the first alleged payment to construction work on the Yeni Parti's building during the party's founding period. He said his father gave Özgür Özel roughly $250,000 at that time, leaving the money in the rear of a vehicle belonging to Özel as they exited a restaurant in Ümitköy. Emir Sarıgül said he learned of this directly from his father, who he said described the episode to him.
The second alleged delivery, according to the same account, involved a gift. Emir Sarıgül said his father told him last month that Özel would come to his Ankara home for dinner and asked him to buy two scarves. Emir Sarıgül said he purchased them from a well-known brand at İstinye Park, after which the scarves were placed in a gift box and his father is alleged to have placed $100,000 into the package in stages.
CNN Türk reported that Emir Sarıgül said the package was handed to Özel at a residence in the Ulus Platin complex in Ankara, and that it contained the scarves alongside the money. With that delivery, the alleged total given to Özel reached $350,000, according to his account.
The statement also included a request for close protection, the broadcaster reported, without specifying whom Emir Sarıgül fears. He asked for both his release and the protection detail, and he described family circumstances, saying his two children are cared for by their maternal grandmother and that his wife is abroad.
How the case surfaced
CNN Türk reported that complaints from two people in Germany brought the Sarıgül family into the investigation. Those individuals first sent a file to journalist Murat Ağırel containing claims about million-dollar transactions and allegations concerning the family, according to the correspondent's account. The file involves fraud and money laundering allegations, and Emir Sarıgül is among those accused.
The broadcaster reported that Mustafa Sarıgül's name appears in the file even though he has not been detained. Emir Sarıgül, in custody, said in his statement that his father is named in the same case.
Separately, the Yeni Parti issued a sharp denial after allegations circulated in a newspaper seen as close to the government, describing them as entirely false and a clear slander, according to Cumhuriyet. NTV Haber reported two further arrests in the Sarıgül investigation.
What to watch
Investigators are expected to move next to the money trail, examining fund movements and account records once the MASAK report arrives. The central question for the file is whether the transactions under review can be traced and documented, and whether the allegations Emir Sarıgül made from prison change the position of anyone else named in the case.
