A branch manager of Denizbank AS, the Turkish unit of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, was arrested after allegations that the official swindled tens of millions of dollars from football celebrities through a pyramid scheme in Turkey.
(Bloomberg) — A branch manager of Denizbank AS, the Turkish unit of Emirates NBD Bank PJSC, was arrested after allegations that the official swindled tens of millions of dollars from football celebrities through a pyramid scheme in Turkey.
The money transactions between the investors and the manager of the lender’s Levent branch in central Istanbul were carried out outside the knowledge of the bank management, Istanbul-based Denizbank said in a statement published on its website.
“It is understood that the claimants have paid their money in cash outside our branches with the purpose of obtaining extreme returns, beyond market levels, with returns paid also in cash through unregistered ways,” according to the statement. The transactions were made without leaving any trace on the national banking system, and no Denizbank document was ever produced for the deals, it said.
Denizbank management learned about the transactions when some of the claimants complained that there was a disruption in their money flows, the bank said. Turkey’s Diken online newspaper reported that the claimants included several football celebrities from top local teams and that the value of the transactions was about $80 million.
Denizbank is one of the main lenders to football clubs in Turkey. The bank helped top clubs including Galatasaray and Fenerbahce to restructure their debts to financial institutions.
Emirates NBD declined to comment. Denizbank declined any further comment beyond what’s been published on the website.
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