15 Şubat 2026 Pazar

"Heist & Release": Thieves Stole "Unneeded" (!) $30 Million in Cash, in Istanbul

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 15 February 2026)















                    "Might as well put it to good use."

It has been determined that the $30 million stolen from two vehicles 
in an apartment complex's parking lot belongs to the son of Atilla 
Durmaz, the owner of Taç Döviz, whose name appears as a 'custodian' 
in the corruption indictment against the Istanbul Metropolitan 
Municipality (IMM). Durmaz stated, "These funds had been sitting 
in the vehicles for three months because I didn't need them." (!)

Details of the theft that occurred on February 11th have emerged. 
According to the allegations, Bilal Durmaz, who runs a currency 
exchange office in the Grand Bazaar, placed 30 million dollars he 
had taken from his workplace into sacks and loaded them into two 
cars in the parking lot of the residential complex where he lives. 
Later, four people entered the complex in a car and went down to 
the parking lot. The suspects allegedly broke the trunks and windows 
of the two vehicles, stole the sacks containing the dollars, and fled.

Bilal Durmaz, who went down to the parking lot late at night, noticed 
that the doors and windows of his vehicles were broken and the sacks 
had been stolen, so he reported it to the police. He told the police 
officers who arrived at the scene that the sacks contained 30 million 
dollars. Police, after inspecting the site and the parking lot, launched 
an operation to apprehend four suspects.

An extra $30 million in "chump change" lying around (!) ...


Durmaz, giving his statement to the police, said: “I moved my 
workplace in Laleli, Istanbul, about 3 months ago. Upon moving to 
the new address, I brought the 30 million US dollars in cash from the
currency exchange office to my residence. There is an electric automatic 
barrier at the entrance to the parking lot. Only residents and their guests 
can enter. I didn't go to the currency exchange office at all during the 
day. I came home around 9 PM, and around 1 AM, as I was about to 
go to sleep, I checked the vehicles. I saw that the right rear window of 
one vehicle was broken. When I checked my other vehicle, I realized 
that the back compartment had been opened with an object. I noticed 
that all the money was missing. Because of my job, depositing and 
withdrawing money from the bank is troublesome. Since I hadn't 
needed this money for 3 months, it was sitting in the vehicles. I last 
checked the money 2 days ago.”

Police teams examining the parking lot camera footage determined 
that 4 suspects entered the site in Florya by car, broke the car windows, 
opened the trunks, and stole 30 million dollars, contained in 10 sacks 
of 100-dollar bills, in just 10 minutes before fleeing.




















                  OK, but where's the other $28 million?!

Police teams, after reviewing security camera footage from the parking 
lot and surrounding areas, apprehended the suspects who fled the 
parking lot in their car in simultaneous operations conducted in Istanbul, 
Antalya, and Kocaeli the previous evening. Searches conducted at the 
addresses of the 7 suspects, who were taken to the police station, 
yielded $1,670,500, 13,200 Turkish Lira, 860 narcotic pills, 2 unlicensed 
handguns, and 1 blank-firing pistol.






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