North Cyprus building Contractors Association President arrested for financial crimes and corruption

North Cyprus building Contractors Association President Cafer Gürcafer, Hasan Akar and Nejdet Tunççağ, were on Tuesday arrested as part of the investigation conducted by the Financial Crimes Department.

Building Contractors Association President Cafer Gürcafer was arrested for “Extortion, Preparing and Circulating Forged Documents” and union employees Hasan Akar and Nejdet Tunççağ were arrested for “Preparing Forged Documents” as part of the investigation conducted by the Financial Crimes Department affiliated with the General Directorate of Police.

They were brought before a Lefkosia district court on Wednesday.

The police stated that the suspects were identified and arrested as part of the investigation launched on March 28, 2024 regarding third-country country national workers brought to the country from abroad with quotas and preliminary permits. The police stated that a protocol was signed between the Ministry of Labor and KTİMB in 2007 to facilitate the procedures of workers to be brought from abroad. The police said that KTİMB received the applications as per the protocol and forwarded them to the ministry. The police said that the job follower testified that Gürcafer received 135,800 Euros from a job follower who applied to the union within the scope of the protocol between 2022-2023 in order to speed up the procedures.

The police reported that a construction company official who came to the police and complained on June 3, 2024, applied to the union to bring 55 workers, but Gürcafer said that shortly after he informed the Ministry of Labor of this request, he prepared false documents without his knowledge and had the quota for 55 people canceled.

The police announced that on June 9, 2023, a construction company applied for a preliminary permit for 30 people, but 16 workers were brought in without the company's knowledge, the whereabouts of these people are unknown and they have started an investigation into this matter. The police said that Nejdet Tunççağ and Hasan Akar prepared the documents for the 16 people to be brought and gave them to an unauthorized person.

The police stated that Nejdet Tunççağ was responsible for the preliminary permit applications at KTİMB and Hasan Akar was responsible for the workers to be brought from third world countries, and that in response to a complaint made by another construction company, the company said that 14 people were brought to the island without its knowledge and that their whereabouts were unknown.

Police say these 14 people are suspects. He explained that they were brought by Cafer Gürcafer 's son's company and that the whereabouts of these people were unknown. The police stated that upon the company's objection, Gürfacer's son's partner instigated the company by saying that he would find the workers.

The police said that KTIMB and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security signed a protocol to bring Pakistani workers to the country, that 22 people were brought to the country within the scope of the protocol, but that they received information that this number was much higher, and that investigations on this issue were also ongoing.

The police said that a search was carried out at KTIMB the day before, that nothing was found on Nejdet Tunççağ and Hasan Akar's computers in the KTIMB building, and that the data had been deleted.

When asked for an explanation, the police stated that Nejdet Tunççağ said that the data was deleted as required by procedure when it accumulated. However, the police announced that they determined that the data was deleted on the same day, June 28, 2024, with one minute intervals.

Police stated that suspects Tunççağ and Akar prepared computer printouts of the preliminary permit applications before the process was completed, but they stated that they did not remember who received these documents.

Police suspectHe said that there was a search warrant regarding Cafer Gürcafer , that 6 mobile phones would be examined, that a person connected to the crime was sought, and that many of the documents in the KTMİB archives would be examined.

The police stated that they would investigate all the elements in favor of and against the suspects and requested that they be detained for 2 days.

Prosecutor Hasan Boşnak stated that a large-scale investigation was being conducted and that new facts could be discovered, and requested an additional 2 days.

While the suspects' lawyers did not object to the 2-day period, they asked questions to the police.

Gürcafer's lawyer, Süleyman Özsoylular, said that his client was called to the police yesterday to give an explanation about some bank checks and was then arrested.

Nejdet Tunççağ's lawyer, Hüseyin Koralp, stated that there were many unknown issues regarding the crime brought against his client and that these should also be investigated.

The judge ordered the suspects to be detained for 2 days for the purpose of investigation.

*In May this year, the 18th Ordinary General Assembly of the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors Association (CTBCA) re-elected Cafer Gürcafer as president.

Gürcafer, was the only candidate for the Presidency, and the vote was unanimous.

Kibris Postassi