Hello all,

I have been in the process of buying a house in Turkey but have been the victim of a guy who appears to have disappeared witha  lot of our money.  We have a contract with him which was done properly by a Turkish lawyer but now we are told that there is nothing we can do.

My main question is can we take this matter to the Turlish police as we would do in the UK because this is effectively theft / fraud/ embezzlement? Our Turkish lawyer says that the police would be able to do nothing and would not really be interested.

If anyone could offer any general guidance on this I would be very grateful.

Thanks,

Carl

Is it possible that your lawyer working with they guy who stole your money.  I think there would be a lot you can do if you have a legal contract (if indeed it is a legally binding and executed contract).  We have some members here who I think own property there.  Hopefully you can get an answer soon. 

Hi Elizabeth, I don´t want to think that the lawyere is in cahoots with the builder but we are beginning to wonder............ We are coming in April to try and get to the bottom of everything - one way or the other - but I suspect that "opening a can of worms" is our only option! I just want to know where we stand with the police and any other routes so that we can be sure we have purusued all avenues.....Carl

 I don´t know if going to the police will help but it certainly won´t hurt.  My husband and I have a small house in Turkey but my husband is Turkish and we bought from friends.  I have no idea if the laws are different for homeowners who are not Turkish citizens (I will ask him).  Good luck. 

I remember a website, which was set by a british couple. It full of this type of cases.. When I looked at the site, it seemed to me, they were much organized.. I will try to find out..

i think you should report this to the police anyway. this is not about stealing your watch or umbrella. you would report such criminal incident to police in UK and everywhere.

it is strange that your lawyer advises you otherwise. i personally suspect your lawyer.

Thanks for your comments so far everyone.... if anyone else has anything to add then please do!

 dont trust the lawyer (I think lawyer is with the guy who stole your money)

and go to police. they find this person

they can even find via cell phone signals

 did you find the website?

Hi. You might want to write your story to homes@itv.com. They usually investigate these stories and have helped a lot of people.