Turkish police on Friday detained social media celebrity Oğuzhan Uğur and six others in a growing investigation into alleged financial misconduct at AHBAP, the prominent disaster relief organization founded by rock musician Haluk Levent.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for nine people, seven of whom were taken into custody in simultaneous morning raids, according to Turkish media reports. Police were reportedly searching for the other two suspects.
Uğur is the founder of BABALA TV, a popular YouTube channel known for programs in which audience members can directly question guests. The channel has around 4.6 million YouTube subscribers.
Following two devastating earthquakes that struck southeastern Turkey on February 6, 2023, a large group of volunteers mobilized by Uğur and his BABALA TV team worked with AHBAP, whose full Turkish name translates as the Anatolian People and Peace Platform Association, to collect donations and deliver aid in the disaster zone.
The earthquakes killed more than 53,500 people in Turkey.
The investigation concerns alleged money laundering, membership in a criminal organization and violations of Turkey’s tax and associations laws.
Prosecutors are examining allegations that donations collected in AHBAP’s name were transferred to accounts linked to suspects and used for purposes other than those intended.
The İHA news agency reported that a private bank had submitted a suspicious transaction report to Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) after a large amount of foreign currency was transferred to BABALA TV’s bank account from abroad. Neither the amount nor the date of the transfer has been disclosed.
A suspicious transaction report does not by itself constitute evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Following Levent’s detention and subsequent arrest earlier this week, Uğur denied claims that he or his team had been involved in any wrongdoing and said they would take legal action if their disaster relief efforts had been exploited.
“Our position on the AHBAP investigation is clear. If something improper took place, that wrong was done to me and my colleagues just as it was to everyone else,” Uğur said on X.
“If our efforts at the time, the steps we took to help and our relief work were abused, we will be on the front line in demanding accountability, and we will initiate legal proceedings on our own behalf,” he added.
A court early Thursday jailed Levent and 13 other suspects pending trial, including his assistant Yeliz Kaya and lawyer Ece Güner. Eleven others were released under judicial supervision.
Prosecutors have frozen AHBAP’s assets and those of some suspects. Turkey’s state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has also been appointed as trustee to four companies linked to the investigation.
The prosecutor’s office has appointed a panel of experts to examine AHBAP’s financial records, bank transactions and funds transfers between individuals and companies, focusing particularly on how donations collected after the earthquakes were received, transferred and spent.
Levent has denied the allegations, saying he never used the charity’s money or assets for personal benefit.
“I did not touch a single penny belonging to the association,” he told prosecutors.
Levent invoked his right to remain silent during police questioning after officers allegedly declined to record statements he wanted to make about politicians and government agencies.
Founded by Levent in 2017, AHBAP became one of Turkey’s most prominent civil society organizations through its volunteer network and large-scale response to the 2023 earthquakes. Its fundraising and relief work attracted widespread public support as an alternative to government-led aid operations.