Ömer Lütfü Topal, sometimes spelled Lütfi (1942 – July 28, 1996), was a Turkish businessman, who was deeply involved in the

Susurluk scandal The Susurluk scandal () or Susurluk accident (), was a 1996 political scandal in Turkey that exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary Grey Wolves (organization), Grey Wolves organization an ...

. He had convictions for drug smuggling, and was dubbed the "casino king" for the gambling ventures that made his later fortune, which amounted to around $1 billion at the time of his assassination.

Background

He was born in Doğanşehir, Malatya Province to Mahmut Topal.

Life

He has a criminal record at the İstanbul Police for the years 1962, 1969 and 1971 for threatening people and forcing them to sign debt bills, stabbing, injury, beating and murder.

Drug smuggling

According to Belgian newspapers, he was arrested on June 20, 1978, in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

province of Belgium while carrying 6 kilos of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

. A fake passport was found on him on the name of Sadık Sami Onar, issued by the

Gaziantep Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Medi ...

Police. Besides, he was accused of drug transfer to the United States over Belgium. He was imprisoned in Belgium between June 14, 1978, and July 23, 1981. Then, he was extradited to the US in order to serve a sentence passed on him for heroin trafficking. He was prosecuted in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and sentenced to five years in prison. His name was mentioned in testimonies of persons, who had been apprehended between January 13 and February 20, 1981, in the Netherlands with vast amounts of heroin. Topal was captured by officers of the Istanbul Narcotics Branch on May 5, 1989, in connection with the aforementioned incident, but released by the İstanbul SSC Prosecution Office.

Casino empire

At the time of his death Topal owned casinos scattered throughout the country,oversaw an illicit enterprise that involved 450 people, and had 200 famous customers. According to his tax statement, he registered a loss of 6 billion Turkish Lira in 1993 ($546,493), however an investigation revealed that he had actually made a profit of 473 billion lira ($39m). An extensive 1999 study by the Ministry of Finance contained the following facts on Topal: * He shot from rags to riches in just five years; in 1991 he owned but a cafeteria. * He had withdrawn 4.1 trillion Lira from gamblers' credit cards. * In sum, 14.5 trillion TL, US$98 million, and 23 million DM were deposited into his 137 bank accounts. * A significant number of his 452 properties were acquired as payment for gambling debts. * A significant source of gambling revenue was poker, raising ~$750m between 1994 and 1996. Topal was also accorded lengthy coverage in the Inspection Board report. Its author, Kutlu Savaş, wrote that Topal would have become a

drug lord A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin, or lord of drugs is a type of crime boss in charge of a drug trafficking network, organization, or enterprise. Crime barons may be difficult to bring to justice: usually, they do not possess illegal goods. Ra ...

that posed a threat to the government if unstopped. In 1995, he made certain attempts to take over the management of some hotels and casinos in

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. According to some information, he had dealt with drugs at the Emperyal Casino he owned in Istanbul, and that he had bribed certain members of the security organization in foreign currency.

Death

Topal was gunned down on July 28, 1996, with a Kalashnikov rifle. Some say this was the beginning of the

Abdullah Çatlı Abdullah Çatlı (1 June 1956 – 3 November 1996) was a Turkish secret government agent, as well as a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He led the Grey Wolves, the youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party ...

's fingerprint was allegedly found on the drum of one of the machine guns used. Ayhan Çarkın and two other policemen were acquitted for lack of evidence; in 2008 the trial judge claimed this was due to a sabotage of the investigation. He left behind 100 trillion lira (on the order of a billion USD). Twenty two of his companies were passed onto his son Murat Topal, daughter Elif Topal, and first wife Safiye Belli. His second wife, Birsu Hilal Altıntaş, inherited a few cars, companies, and properties too. After his death, his casinos were run by Ömer Gultekin.

Footnotes

References

* (contains the Susurluk reports, and material on the

Counter-Guerrilla Counter-Guerrilla () is a Turkish branch of Operation Gladio, a clandestine stay-behind Anti-communism, anti-communist initiative backed by the United States as an expression of the Truman Doctrine. The founding goal of the operation was to erect ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Topal, Omer Lutfu 1942 births 1996 deaths People from Doğanşehir 20th-century Turkish businesspeople Turkish drug traffickers Turkish people convicted of money laundering Assassinated Turkish businesspeople Businesspeople in the casino industry Turkish people imprisoned abroad Foreign nationals imprisoned in Belgium People extradited from Belgium People extradited to the United States Turkish people imprisoned in the United States People murdered in Turkey Deaths by firearm in Turkey Turkish billionaires Turkish crime bosses