Aggravated Fraud Offense (Turkish Criminal Code Articles 158/1-i and 158/3) – Judgment of Acquittal

The court decisions published in this section were obtained in cases in which Attorney Mert Sönmez personally acted as counsel and defense counsel.

REPUBLIC OF TÜRKİYE

*** COURT

CASE NO: ***

DECISION NO: ***

REASONING

Our court jointly examined the contents of the case file, the indictment, the opinion on the merits, the statement of the participating party, the defenses of the accused, the witness statement, TÜVTÜRK inspection reports, notarized sale records, and all evidence. As a result of that examination, although a public prosecution was brought against the accused for aggravated fraud, no concrete, definite, and convincing evidence was obtained showing that the accused had defrauded the participating party through information systems or in the capacity of self-employed professionals. It was understood that the incident was a conventional purchase-and-sale relationship based on an online vehicle advertisement and that, having regard to the nature of the deception and the methods used by the accused, the act corresponded to the basic offense of fraud regulated in Article 157 of the Turkish Criminal Code. Settled case law of the Court of Cassation emphasizes that, for the offense of fraud to be established, the offender's deceptive conduct must be capable of influencing the victim's will; that not every deception constitutes an offense; and that the nature of the deception and loss in the present case bore the elements of the basic offense of fraud. The act of the accused *** consisted solely of allowing an account to be used at a friend's request, and there was no concrete evidence connecting the accused to the vehicle advertisement, the reduction of the odometer reading, the sale negotiations, or any contact with the participating party. The accused's defense was consistent with the evidence in the file, and insufficient evidence was obtained to establish criminal intent.

JUDGMENT

1- Although a public prosecution was brought seeking punishment of the accused *** for aggravated fraud, since no definite, sufficient, and convincing evidence requiring punishment was obtained to establish that the accused committed the charged offense, THE ACCUSED SHALL BE ACQUITTED of the charged offenses pursuant to Article 223/2-e of the Code of Criminal Procedure.