Father and son money launderers behind bars
A FATHER and son who brought more than three million euros in cash into North Cyprus, believed to be the proceeds of crime, have been jailed for four years each.
Selim Tayşi and his son, who has the same name, were sentenced at Lefkoşa Assize Court after being found guilty of breaking the “Money and Foreign Exchange Law” by bringing 3.2 million euros in cash last summer via Ercan airport.
Handing down the verdict on behalf of a panel of judges, Judge Fadıl Aksun emphasised that the crime committed by the defendants carries a maximum prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 1 billion TL.
Judge Aksun noted that under the law, it is mandatory to declare 10,000 euros or more in cash or equivalent assets being brought into the country to the customs authorities.
Judge Aksun explained that the defendants had entered the TRNC with the huge sums of cash in more than one visit, delivering the banknotes to a person at Ercan airport and then often leaving the island on the same day “or even on the same plane”.
The judge also said the defendants “either did not declare the money they had with them when they entered the country” or if they did, they made false declarations to customs officers that they were going to use the money “to establish a business or use it for commercial purposes” but they “never did”.
The judge continued: “As we emphasised, we see that the defendants handed over the money they brought to the TRNC to a person named Hasan Kaya, whom they knew as an employee of Ökkeş Taş, but did not provide any documents or means of authentication during the delivery of such large sums of money.
“When this situation is considered along with the defendants’ other acts, it reinforces the informality factor.
“The investigation carried out after the defendants were arrested showed that the person named Hasan Kaya had left the country and the money was not found.
“Aside from the fact that the defendants did not obtain any documents from the person named Hasan Kaya, to whom they stated that they delivered this money, we also see that despite the fact that he took the money in question and fled, they have not filed a complaint against him.”
During the sentencing, Judge Aksun also said “uncontrolled cash flows” are a “global risk that affects not just a nation but the whole world”.
The offences committed by Selim Tayşi senior and junior “will cause our country to be discredited and will create an image that we are disconnected from the world economy and legal system” the judge warned.
“Thus, it is in the public interest not to tolerate any behaviour that will erode our country's financial credibility, create an image that we have an uncontrolled financial structure and result in our exclusion from the global economy. . . The economy that our country needs is only one with a legitimate foundation.
“Therefore . . . we consider it appropriate to give the defendants a sentence restricting their liberty.”