The Court of Appeal yesterday handed down judgment in an
expedited appeal in complex committal proceedings. Peters &
Peters' client Mrs Nebahat İşbilen was respondent to
the appeal brought by her one-time personal financier and trusted
adviser, Mr Selman Turk, who had been sentenced to 12 months'
imprisonment in March 2024 following findings that he was
in serious and deliberate contempt of court.
The Court of Appeal has now robustly dismissed Mr Turk's
appeal, finding that there was no error of fact, law or procedure
by the first instance judge. The court has uniquely suspended Mr
Turk's sentence for three months so that he can try to remedy
his continuing serious non-compliance with his disclosure
obligations.
The judgment shows that appellate courts will be very slow to
overturn findings of fact or decisions properly made by committal
or trial judges, who are best placed to assess the evidence
available to them. It will be of interest to fraud practitioners
and to those bringing, defending or seeking to appeal committal
proceedings.
This is the latest development in long-running fraud proceedings
brought by Mrs İşbilen against various defendants,
including Mr Turk, whom she alleges orchestrated a wide-ranging and
complex fraud through which she lost about £40 million.
In March 2021, Mrs İşbilen obtained a freezing and
disclosure order against Mr Turk. Following his repeated failures
to explain what he had done with her money, Peters & Peters
then pursued an application for search and inspection orders to
enforce the obligations in the freezing order. That application was
granted in March 2022.
In November 2022, following Mr Turk's continuing serious
failure to comply with his disclosure obligations, Mrs
İşbilen issued an application to commit him to prison for
contempt of court. A lengthy hearing of the application took place
before Sir Anthony Mann in late 2023 and his judgment on liability was
handed down on 5 March.
Sir Anthony Mann found, beyond reasonable doubt, that Mr Turk had
committed serious and contumacious breaches of disclosure
obligations in the March 2021 order. After hearing submissions on
sentencing, in March 2024, Sir Anthony Mann handed Mr Turk a
sentence of 12 months' imprisonment.
Mr Turk appealed against both the liability judgment and the
sentence.
Commenting on the decision, Jonathan Tickner, Partner and Head of Civil
Fraud, who led Mrs İşbilen's legal team, said:
"Mrs Işbilen is a victim of a wide-ranging and exploitative fraud by Selman Turk and others. The Court of Appeal has now roundly dismissed Mr Turk's attempt to appeal the earlier judgment of Sir Anthony Mann. Mr Turk remains in serious and deliberate contempt of court, and it remains to be seen whether he will now belatedly attempt to remedy his breaches. Mrs Işbilen remains determined to continue pursuing the recovery of her stolen funds."
Alice McDonald and George Pizzey of Peters & Peters also
acted for Mrs İşbilen. Dan McCourt Fritz KC and Andrew Gurr of Serle Court were
instructed as counsel.
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