Erol Evcil (born 2 May 1966, Mudanya, Bursa Province), is a Turkish businessman convicted of money-laundering and ordering a murder. Coming from an olive-growing background, he became known as the "olive king", and founded Zeytinoglu Holding in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he employed many former high-ranking state officials, and won state privatization tenders. He was a millionaire by age 25, and top of the police "most wanted" list by age 30. At the height of his success he had three private planes (which he lent freely to politicians and public officials), and a famous singer (

Gülben Ergen Gülben Ergen (; born 25 August 1972) is a Turkish singer and actress. Ergen started her career as an actress, and later decided to enter the music industry. She started her music career as a headliner. In 2001, for her role as Melek in the comed ...

) as a girlfriend, and was one of the most famous people in Turkey. He went into hiding in 1998 after his business empire, much of it based on bank loans running into hundreds of millions of dollars obtained fraudulently, began to unravel. He was arrested in April 1999, charged with ordering the 1997 murder of Nesim Malki, and convicted in 2004. He was a friend of Alaattin Çakıcı and Mehmet Ağar, and had done business with Cavit Çağlar, Korkmaz Yiğit, Orhan Taşanlar and

Yavuz Ataç Yavuz Ataç is a former Turkish intelligence official in the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), best known for his relationship with Alaattin Çakıcı. A former head of MIT Foreign Operations, he was "sent into exile" in Beijing on 24 Octob ...

. In 2013 he was sentenced to 15 years for money-laundering.

Career

Evcil came from an olive-growing background, he became known as the "olive king", and founded Zeytinoglu Holding in the late 1980s, becoming known as a major exporter. In the 1990s he employed many former high-ranking state officials, and won state privatization tenders. On 27 August 1994 he obtained a court order officially changing his surname to "Esrefoglu", but continued to use his old surname in all his transactions. Hurriyet Daily News, 7 November 1999
The Man at the Heart of the Devil's Triangle: Erol Evcil
/ref> In 1991 Evcil attempted to obtain a bank loan from

Türkiye İş Bankası Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, but was turned down. After setting up a company with relatives of key bank officials, Evcil's Erev Tekstil company was able to obtain a TL125bn loan. The capital of Evcil's olive products company, Eze Zeytincilik, grew by the same amount on the same day. Eze Zeytincilik had been set up with a $50m loan from moneylender Nesim Malki. Eze Zeytincilik claimed to be a successful exporter, but its factory was still under construction in 1995, and records of alleged sales achieved showed prices a third higher than other Turkish companies were able to charge. The fraud continued until Evcil's debts exceeded $100m and Evcil was unable to even keep up with the interest payments, at which point Is Bank began to investigate. Investigations were stymied by the bank's attempts to protect leading bank officials. Evcil's Eze Zeytincilik was confiscated by Is Bank in mid-1997, with the facility and lands estimated to be worth $4m, against $140m credit advanced for investments in the company.

Turkish Daily News Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, 6 November 1997
The black face of finance sector: credited gangs
/ref> He had also obtained credit from a dozen other banks and financial institutions, including $75m from

Türk Ticaret Bankası Türk Ticaret Bankası A.Ş (TTB, en, Turkish Trade Bank), also known as Türkbank, was founded in 1913 in Adapazarı by private investors as a regional bank under the name of ''Adapazarı İslam Ticaret Bankası''. It was renamed ''Türk Ticaret ...

. He was arrested in Bursa in April 1999, after Bursa's General Directorate of Security police raided a house in an area in the jurisdiction of the Turkish Gendarmerie, without informing them. He had been hiding there for around a year.''Sabah'' and ''Radikal'',

, 30 October 1999
From the papers
/ref> According to ''Sabah'' and ''Radikal'', interior minister

Sadettin Tantan Sadettin Tantan (born 1 January 1941) is the Turkish politician who is the founder and current leader of the Homeland Party (Turkish: ''Yurt Partisi'', YURT-P) since 2002. He was a former member of the Motherland Party (ANAP) and served as the ...

discovered Evcil was hiding in Bursa, and after some political difficulty moved the Bursa Governor Orhan Taşanlar and the Bursa Chief of Police, Kemal Bayrak, to positions outside Bursa. Only then did he order the new Chief of Police to detain Evcil. Evcil later admitted that he had received warning of an earlier raid, from a high-ranking Bursa police officer. He also said he ordered the murder of moneylender Nesim Malki because he realised he could not pay him back.

From the papers
/ref> Evcil was charged with ordering the murder of Nesim Malki,

, 11 April 1999
Erol 'Eagle' Evcil Roosting in 'Eagle' Prison
/ref> and convicted in 2004. Hurriyet Daily News, 9 December 2004
Evcil again on scene
/ref> In 2013 he was sentenced to 15 years for money-laundering. Sabah, 8 March 2013
Erol Evcil davasında gerekçeli karar
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evcil, Erol 1966 births Turkish businesspeople People from Mudanya Living people Turkish money launderers