Insight CYPRUS FRAUD CASE


cratos owners forGery claim


The owners of the luxury Cratos Casino Resort on the island of Cyprus have been accused of falsifying loan documents


One of the leading casino lights in Northern Cyprus has become embroiled in a scandal that has seen it being investigated not only by Turkish journalists but also the Fiscal Crimes Police Department.


Haberturk, one of Turkey’s highest circulation daily newspapers, has accused Boz Group, the owners of the Cratos Premium Hotel & Casino, of obtaining 30m TL in loans by using forged letters of guarantee.


Bosses of the Turkish conglomerate, Boz Group, Kemal and Murat Bozoğlu, have been accused of swindling the Turkish bank, Vakıflar Bank, by obtaining loans by using forged documents.


The paper has also accused the group of making false declarations and statements such as inviting Jennifer Lopez for the opening of the hotel and later that they would sell the hotel to the Hilton Group; both turned out to be ingenuous and groundless.


According to the information received; Murat Bozoğlu, Kemal Bozoğlu, İrfan Usta, Hasan Başel and Eray Dalgakıran and the directors of Depar, Akfel, Altuğ Inşaat, Utay Inşaat and Uytaş Yapı (Construction companies linked to the Boz Group) received loans from the


Levent, Istanbul, Branch of Vakıflar Bank in 2006, using documents of assignment. They submitted to the bank the documents of assignment which they claimed to have been granted by the General Directorate of Water and Sewage Infrastructure (İSKİ), a Turkish


cratos has


destroyed the casino market in northern cyprus By


makinG offers no other


casino can match.


government department. The loans were used in Turkey and Northern Cyprus to finance the construction and operation of the Cratos Premium Hotel & Casino. However as no payments were made by ISKI on the due date of payment, Vakıflar Bank wrote to the General Directorate of ISKI on October 3, 2011 noting that their assignment letters were not paid and asking when the payments were going to be made in accordance with the agreement. This was when the potential fraud was first revealed. ISKI General


“We are delighted that, after a


detailed and com “Everyone was


wondering how


they could possibly do this given that their revenue was


not exceptional and that their expenses and repayments


were so high. Well now, it seems that


the truth is out – by getting 30M TL in


loans with forged documents they


could do an awful lot of promoting. I imagine they


hoped to be able to pay off their loans before the fraud was discovered. However, the


current financial climate did not


enable them to do this. It is rumoured that bankruptcy of the property may occur at any moment.”


Cyprus Industry Source.


Directorate wrote to Vakiflar Bank on October 7, 2011 saying that they had never previously given such documents or approvals for payment.


Consequently, the members of the supervisory board of Vakiflarbank started an auditing and investigation process and it was discovered that 22 letters of assignment were false. The management of the bank filed a criminal complaint concerning the persons having received 30m TL by using forged documents. The case file was sent to the Fiscal Crimes Police Department on February 17, 2012 and a judicial process is now under way.


A source close to the story said: “The whole Northern Cyprus casino market is waiting now for the government to do something against the Cratos owners. The Cratos has, to a large extent, destroyed the casino market in Northern Cyprus by bringing in Turkish entertainment mega- stars and making offers to the players that no other casino could match. Everyone was wondering how they could possibly do this given that their revenue was not exceptional and that their expenses and repayments were so high. Well now, it seems that the truth is out – by getting 30M TL in loans with forged documents they could do an awful lot of promoting. I imagine they hoped to be able to pay off their loans before the fraud was discovered. However, the current financial climate did not enable them to do this. It is rumoured that bankruptcy of the property may occur at any moment.”


June 2012 PAGE 35


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52