A Proactive State: Justice Before the Money Disappears

The editorial

The value of Akın Gürlek’s approach to the fund crisis emerges here. On 26 September, the minister stated the objective plainly: “Whatever account the money has been transferred to, whatever company or person the assets have been placed under, we will follow the trail to the very end.” Ministry of Justice [2].

To understand why this matters, consider the story of Ricardo Salgado.

Banco Espírito Santo, which Salgado ran, collapsed in 2014. The main trial began only ten years later. But the bank’s collapse did not mean that all of the Salgado family’s economic relationships had ended. The start of the trial [3].

According to Portuguese reporting based on tax inspection records, Salgado transferred approximately €2.5 million from the Begolino account to his daughter Catarina Amon in 2013, describing it as a gift. Years later, information recorded in a 2024 EDP judgment showed that his daughter was sending €40,000 a month to cover her parents’ expenses. It has not been established that these two flows were the same money going out and coming back; they nevertheless illustrate the scale of financial flows within the family. Records of the gift [4], monthly support recorded in the judgment [5].

Catarina’s husband is Philippe Amon, who heads SICPA. Family and financing relationships also intersect in this circle: the 2009 report of the BES investment bank, chaired by Salgado, records that the bank was joint lead arranger of CHF 102 million in financing for Argaman’s purchase of SICPA shares. This record alone does not demonstrate wrongdoing; it establishes a documented financing relationship between BES and SICPA share ownership. Family relationship [6], the bank’s annual report, p. 74 [7].

SICPA’s 2023 conviction in a separate case contains another important detail. Of the CHF 81 million imposed for organisational deficiencies that enabled employees to pay bribes in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela, only CHF 1 million was a fine; CHF 80 million was a compensatory claim. The company said it disagreed with the grounds, and proceedings against its CEO were discontinued. Here too, the question was whether the law could reach the economic gains. Swiss Office of the Attorney General [8], company statement [9].

There is no evidence establishing criminal complicity between these cases and Türkiye’s fund crisis. The comparison has a different purpose: when seeking victims’ money, examining only accounts registered in a suspect’s own name is insufficient. Investigators must identify the accounts through which the money passed, the assets into which it was converted and the people who benefited.

This concrete objective is what makes Gürlek’s approach worthy of praise. On 1 October, the minister said that, once legal proceedings were complete, seized villas, vehicles, land and account assets would be used to meet victims’ claims through resources within the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, TMSF. Asset tracing was thus tied to returning citizens’ money. Ministry of Justice [10].

The importance of time is also clear. The Stanford [11], Wirecard [12], Greensill [13], 1MDB [14] and Zhongzhi [15] cases show how trials and repayment processes can stretch over years. The fact that a prison sentence covering some of Salgado’s convictions could not be enforced because of Alzheimer’s disease also recalls the consequences of those passing years. June 2026 decision [16].

Türkiye saw the cost of flight in the Thodex case. That is why the roughly $40 million transfer Gürlek said had been stopped, and early measures to preserve assets, matter. Gürlek’s statement [17].

The investigation’s extension to a request to freeze the assets of Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya and her husband, and to the arrest of a deputy minister’s son-in-law, is also significant in showing that political proximity should not obstruct scrutiny. The allegations concerning Kaya have not been proven; her name does not appear in the relevant criminal complaint by the Capital Markets Board, and she herself requested an investigation. The strength of accountability lies in applying the same standard to everyone while preserving these distinctions. The Kaya case [18], report on the arrest [19].

The Capital Markets Board’s decision to authorise interim payments of up to TRY 1 million per fund to investors whose reconciliations have been completed, in funds under liquidation at four designated companies, complements the same objective: shortening citizens’ wait. Capital Markets Board announcement [20].

Giving Gürlek credit does not require declaring the investigation’s outcome in advance. The determination to follow money even when the name attached to it changes is a sound starting point in itself. The point at which success will be complete is equally clear: when preserved assets reach the accounts of the people entitled to them. For savers, that is where the justice of the social state becomes tangible.

Based on reporting from: T24 · Villa seizures; Ministry of Justice · 26 September statement; Rádio Renascença · BES trial; i / SAPO · Gift records; ECO · Monthly support; Le Temps · Family relationship; BES investment bank · 2009 annual report, p. 74; Swiss Office of the Attorney General · SICPA; SICPA · Company statement; Ministry of Justice · Asset recovery; Stanford Financial Claims; LTO · Wirecard; UBS · Greensill; Malaysia Ministry of Finance · 1MDB; Yahoo Finance · Zhongzhi; Observador · June 2026 decision; T24 · Gürlek statement; Memurlar.net · Kaya case; Memurlar.net · Arrest report; Capital Markets Board of Türkiye · Interim payments.