"Beat & Release": Famous Turkish Football Celebrities Among Victims in $80 Million Bank Swindle

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 22 April 2023)

                            Smiling faces sometimes...

Seçil Erzan, the office director of a private bank, has been arrested on 

charges of swindling many famous people, including luminaries from

the football world, out of $80 million. (!) 

According to news in Oksijen newspaper, Seçil hanım worked at a

private bank in Florya, Istanbul, for a while and there she took care of 

banking affairs for a number of individuals associated with the 

Galatasaray football team, earning their trust.  Subsequently, she was 

appointed as the chief of the Büyükdere branch of the bank and sought 

out  wealthy depositors of the bank with this pitch: "we've formed a 

private fund system with which you can earn large amounts of money.  

We're keeping it secret but however much you put into it your payback 

will be commensurate."  

As a result, many wealthy people sent Seçil hanım money and for a

while they got good returns. Word spread and more investors sent her

money, sometimes bringing it to her in handbags.  Last November,

a businessman brought her $5 million (!) he collected from friends

in a handbag but since this businessman had been robbed once before 

he put a GPS chip in the handbag.  In any case, he told Seçil hanım 

about the GPS chip. 

Based on the GPS tracking data, the handbag remained in the bank for

half a day, after which it went to Lotus Sitesi in Sarıyer, Istanbul, and

following that to Istanbul Airport, returning to the Lotus Sitesi address

that same evening.   According to this businessman's claim, the handbag

had been delivered to former Galatasaray football player Semih Kaya.

When the businessman told his contributing friends what happened 

they warned him that he may have been a victim of fraud. 

The businessman called Seçil hanım and asked for his money to be 

returned to him.  In response, she said that since the fund's time period

had not yet been fulfilled she could not give it back and instead sent 

him a bank document to this effect.  This prompted the businessman to

file a complaint with the public prosecutor.  Seçil hanım's "fund"

stalled and, let alone profit, she couldn't even return the principle given

to her by investors, who got in line to file their own complaints with the

prosecutor.  

Ultimately, police raided Seçil hanım's home in Göktürk, Istanbul,

near Istanbul Airport and after interrogation, she was put in jail.  

Others hoodwinked by Seçil hanım included famous football 

celebrities including Fatih Terim ($10 million), Arda Turan (8 million

Euros), Fernando Muslera, Semih Kaya and Selçuk İnan.  Police are

now trying to determine whether Seçil hanım implemented the fraud

alone or with others. 

Among Seçil hanım's book of quotes: "There's no such thing as

someone not succeeding because they wanted too much. We

must focus on what we're aiming at." (!)