The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said it had sent a letter to relevant institutions seeking the freezing of all assets belonging to the couple.
The development comes days after Kaya resigned from her position as deputy chair of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) amid allegations concerning her trading of shares linked to the fund crisis.
Kaya, who served as Turkey’s family and social affairs minister from 2016 to 2018, said she was stepping down to allow any investigation into the allegations to proceed independently and impartially.
The allegations were raised by opposition Yeni Party spokesman Zeynel Emre, who claimed that Kaya and her husband made substantial profits from share transactions shortly before the investment fund crisis intensified.
According to the allegations, Kaya invested about 63.4 million Turkish lira in shares of shipbuilding company Özata Denizcilik in April 2026 and later sold them for about 1.34 billion lira in September. Her husband was also accused of making significant gains from similar transactions.
The allegations have not been established as fact, and Kaya has not admitted wrongdoing. She said her resignation was intended to take political responsibility and allow the claims to be properly investigated.
Turkey’s investment fund crisis erupted in September after several funds struggled to meet investor redemption requests, triggering a sharp fall in the country’s stock market.
Regulators subsequently ordered the liquidation of 131 investment funds, while authorities launched a wider investigation into suspected market manipulation and irregularities involving the funds. The crisis has affected more than 450,000 investors, according to reports.
The investigation has since widened, with authorities examining transactions involving companies, investment funds and individuals as they seek to determine the causes of the market turmoil and establish whether any laws were broken.
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