Government seizes assets from the Uzan family

Turkey’s Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund has seized the assets of 219 companies from the Uzan family, including GSM operator Telsim, amid claims that the family has failed to repay debts of over USD5.5 billion. The Uzans, who are also engaged in legal action with equipment vendors Nokia and Motorola, have denied the government’s allegations. The authorities, however, have conducted an investigation into the Imar Bank, which is run by the Uzans, which found that the company had been hiding its real number of clients and sold non-existent treasury bonds.