The general manager of government-controlled insurer Turkiye Sigorta (Istanbul/TURSG) on October 15 quit following questioning by Turkish prosecutors in connection with an investigation into a missing Turkish lira (TRY) 100mn ($2.mn) investment, according to local media reports.

The resignation of Taha Cakmak comes amid mounting scrutiny over the allocation of TRY 100mn belonging to Turkiye Hayat Emeklilik, the group's pension arm, to a fund managed by Tera Yatirim (Istanbul/TERA), an investment firm. Tera Yatirim’s banking arm was seized by the state savings insurance fund TMSF on September 30.

Tera Yatirim runs a brokerage house at the centre of Turkey’s widening ‘Ponzi-style’ funds scandal on the capital markets.

TURSG confirmed that Cakmak had stepped dow in a stock exchange filing. The company, majority-owned by the government’s Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF/TVF), said no successor had yet been named.

The executive was interrogated for four hours at Istanbul’s main courthouse on October 14, according to reports by local journalist Ismail Saymaz. He was subsequently released under judicial supervision, subject to a travel ban and an order to report to police on a weekly basis.

In comments reported by Saymaz, Cakmak confirmed placing the funds in the Tera investment vehicle on an overnight basis while denying reports that his personal assets had been seized by authorities.

As of end-3Q, the latest date for which TURSG’s financial records are available, the company has no balance or position in any of the 131 funds subject to liquidation and, therefore, it is not involved in the liquidation process, TURSG said on October 7 in a filing to Borsa Istanbul.

Cakmak took the helm of Turkiye Sigorta and Turkiye Hayat Emeklilik in 2023, succeeding Atilla Benli. Before being appointed to his post at TURSG, he served as a deputy governor at the central bank between October 2021 and July 2023. He also served as the deputy head of banking watchdog BDDK between 2019 and 2021.

Turkiye Sigorta, the largest insurance company in Turkey, was formed in 2020 through the consolidation of several state-owned insurance entities under TWF to create a national champion in the financial sector.

Currently, TWF controls a 76% stake in the company while the remaining shares are traded publicly on Borsa Istanbul.