"Beat & Release": Loansharks Rip School Owner and Others to Shreds, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 December 2023)

           A loanshark straight out of central casting. 

In Tuzla, Istanbul, Mert Kutay Emekçi, the owner of Koru Schools, was

hard up for money so he borrowed 700,000 TL (about $24,000) from

loansharks, signing 18 promissory notes of 77,000 TL, which with the

loansharks' interest amounted to a debt of 1,386,000 (about $48,000). (!)

In addition, at other times Emekçi signed 40 more promissory notes

amounting to a separate debt of 1.5 million TL, using his automobile as

collateral.  

However (!), although Emekçi paid these debts, the loansharks would

not return his promissory notes to him and even came to the school and

seized promissory notes belonging to students' parents, after which they

called the parents and threatened them to pay the promissory notes' 

amounts.  In the course of this rip-off, the loanshark gang reaped about

12 million TL in unjust income.  The loansharks seized many cars and 

other property from their victims in lieu of the debt re-payments.  

Related complaints prompted the Terror and Organized Crime Bureau

connected to the Anatolian State Prosecutor's Office to begin an

investigation.  Consequently, the day before yesterday simultaneous

raids were conducted in Istanbul and Ağrı, with 8 loansharks being 

taken into custody.  A search of the raided residents produced 223

promissory notes ready for implementation; 64 promissory notes

amounting to 10,368,100 TL (about $357,000); two checks worth

950,000 TL (about $33,000); automobile promissory notes.