Ahbap Aide Claims Haluk Levent Directed Illegal Betting Operations

Alper Çelik, a founder of the Ahbap Association and aide to artist Haluk Levent, has sought to benefit from "effective remorse" in an investigation into the organization. Çelik was apprehended while conducting notarial transactions, days after his name appeared on a list of detainees.

Prosecutors allege that Haluk Levent utilized Çelik's accounts for illegal betting between 2020 and 2026, wagering 990 million lira. The prosecution claims 390 million lira of this amount was lost. Çelik, however, stated in his testimony that he did not know the origin of the funds.

Çelik claims Levent did not directly use the accounts but provided instructions over the phone. "He was constantly giving me instructions by phone. I was doing what he said. For example, I was making stock market transactions, and he would tell me, 'Transfer this much money to your account.' Then he would play the stock market from the application," Çelik stated. He added that an account was opened in his name on a betting site because the betting platform required a personal bank account for deposits.

"He would usually write to me, 'Make a coupon for these matches,' and I would play as he said. Sometimes he would log into my betting site account himself and play, but because he didn't want to bother, he always told me. We really lost the amounts he said," Çelik recounted. He also mentioned being sent to a currency exchange in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar to buy foreign currency and Turkish lira, which were then deposited into accounts used for betting and stock market payments. Çelik maintains he is a victim and innocent, claiming to have suffered financial and emotional damages.