Ahbap Association Probe: Haluk Levent Denies Charges, Admits Using Funds as Collateral

Musician Haluk Levent, president of the Ahbap Association, has denied charges of organizing a criminal group, qualified fraud, and money laundering during his testimony to authorities. Levent, who was detained in Bursa, stated that he did not wish to benefit from early repentance provisions. He explained that the Ahbap Association was founded in 2016 or 2017 and that he personally covered all its financing for the initial two years. Donations began to surge, he said, following the Elazig earthquake. Levent asserted that he was the sole authorized person for the association's financial transactions, including the authority to withdraw funds. He claimed that approximately 4.3 billion lira in donations flowed into Ahbap accounts after the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, with about 4 billion lira spent on relief efforts in the same year. Levent maintained that invoices and delivery receipts for all expenditures are available at the relevant governorships and that the Interior Ministry conducted financial audits for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Addressing personal financial difficulties, Levent mentioned his intention to transfer 20 properties, valued at approximately 150 million lira today, to Ahbap for 80 million lira, but the title deed transfer could not be completed. He argued that the 80 million lira transferred to an account belonging to Yeliz Kaya became the subject of the investigation before the property transfer was finalized. Levent admitted to borrowing heavily due to personal investments, citing a "bad weakness for trading on the stock market." He acknowledged using Ahbap's checks and promissory notes as collateral at times, stating, "You can call this an irregularity, but you cannot call it corruption. I have never taken money from the Ahbap Association to play with."

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You can call this an irregularity, but you cannot call it corruption. I have never taken money from the Ahbap Association to play with.