Dear Sir/Madam,
I want to make a complaint against Ercan Gunduz Attorney and Ozyurtlar Insaat Developer to recover €35, 500 for court compensation. I have transferred over €15, 000 for the property before the court case.
Re: Complaint Against Ercan Gunduz Attorney at Law
Ercan Gunduz
Attorney at Law
Turkish Law Centre
Caddebostan Mahallesi, Sarigul Sokak,
No: 18/9, Kadikoy, 34417, Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail [protected]@ercangunduz.av.tr
Mobile +[protected]
Tel +[protected]
Fax +[protected]
Web http://www.ercangunduz.av.tr
Istanbul Bar Association registration number: 40992
Turkish Bar Association registration number:32324
Tax Registration: Goztepe V.D. [protected]
I purchased an apartment from Ozyurtlar Insaat back in 2011 named Nmerkez Outlet (University Studio and Apartments) in the Esenyurt district of European Side of Istanbul.
I subsequently filed a lawsuit before the court via my lawyer to reclaim loss of earning and compensation for Ozyurtlar Insaat not completing the project as planned. The case was in Istanbul Consumer's Rights Court with docket number 2013 / 2024 as incident by my lawyer. The court ruled in my favour in June 2015 and ever since I have been waiting for the refund of the sale amount into my bank account in Ireland. The relationship later broke down between myself and my lawyer Mr Ercan Gunduz when I demanded a copy of court proceeding and copy of the TT copy confirming money transfer was sent to me. I now suspect he is trying to embezzle the money that was supposed to be refunded into my bank account, I was told 3 times already that payment was lodged into my bank in Ireland but later found out that he lied about sending me payment in which he later confirmed it to me. I've attached tread of email correspondence and communication with this complaint letter for your attention.
I travelled to Istanbul on the 18th January 2013 to meet Mr Ercan and to also open a bank account in which rental income will be deposited once the project was completed. I met with him at my rental accommodation within the city centre of Istanbul and he brought me and my friends to see the project progress in Esenyurt district. I have evidential records of all payments sent to Mr. Ercan's account towards the project which was meant to be deposited into Ozyurtlar Insaat account. Everything went fine and then around October 2012, I was informed by Mr Ercan that there was delay with the Project and it was stopped by the Greater Metropolitan Municipality, due to the local municipality's construction license.
A payment order for EUR 35.500, 00 was sanctioned by the court which was to be paid to me within 30days as stated . I've tried contacting him to no avail and very sure he is doing this to other clients which needs to stop. I just believe it is a disgrace to the legal professionals in turkey and a bad image for turkey in general. I wish for Ercan Gunduz to be removed from the Bar association of turkey and for him to refund my hard earned money to me as my legal obligation. I chose to invest in turkey due to Turkey commitment and passion for foreign investor but this incident has given a very bad image of Turkey.
I travelled to turkey to look at the project and I met Ercan but never imagine he would do this to his country, himself and to the Bar Association in general. Based on this matter I think this Fraud lawyer should be exposed to the world and printed in every media network, so others wishing to invest in turkey can avoid his company, as it will be shame to lose people's hard earned money to someone like Ercan Gunduz. I would love the Police force to help me recover my earnings from the bogey lawyer and put him to justice. I gave him my trust and he misleads me using his legal skills, I rang almost every day from Ireland to Turkey and he would ignore my calls and text messages. The money I used for the investment was borrow so right now I'm a little suicidal but trying to stay strong. I'm struggling with repayment plus the stress of losing more money to this lawyer is emotionally disturbing and sad while is loving life using my funds.
I passionately want this lawyer brought to justice and for my money to be refunded.
Tayo Brown
Thanks you guys for the positive feedback. I just felt I needed to spread the news to warn people and to also see if I was the only person affected.
I've actually met Eracn face to face about 3 years ago when I visited to see the project development in Istanbul. he sounded like a nice guys and I met is younger brother and you would think butter wouldn't melt. My case was dragging for over 2 years, it concluded last year June and ever since I have been trying to get my money back with no success. After constant phones calls, messages and email in which he ignored, he later replied telling me he had stroke and that he is recovery which I knew was ###. That was when I decided to take it to the next level as It was my hard earned money so the next step I took was to report him to the Istanbul Bar association, Interpol and European commissioner. A lawyer contacted through this forum 3 weeks ago informing one that one of his client was in the same situation as us, so he sent me an Turkish newspaper article about our man Ercan, this guy is a superstar fraudster and I was informed that he could have an inside connection with someone within the construction/developer meaning he is not alone. He defrauded a business man with over 3 million euros and he is in the same situation as us. I was in contact with this businessman's lawyer last week and I was told they should recover the total investment for his client before the end of April.
In my search for justice, I found a very reputable lawyer in Ankara who is taking my case against Ercan. The lawyer informed me that the developer did pay Mr Ercan the money but wrote on my behalf that I do not want the compensation meaning the money was directed into his account as he has POA power act on our behalf. I am sure he has done the same to all of his client.
this is link to the Turkish article
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/istanbul-barosuna-uye-avukata-nijeryali-isadamini-dolandirdi-suclamasi-40073586
My Lawyer has started a court proceeding for fraud against Ercan which starts on Wednesday 13th April to recover all cost. if looking for lawyers in turkey you guys need to be very careful. I've searched over 20 lawyer before I found my current lawyer who is very compassionate and he is the best in Ankara and negotiable fees. if you guys needs his details please let me know.
I really hope every finds justice on their hard earned money... It is very important that Ercan does not get away with it. I was emotionally affected for months until I found hope with my lawyer who assured me that I can recover all my money back. I'm sure every single one of you need that hope as well. My advise is not to give up plus the more petition he gets in Turkish court the damaging it is very his business and career.
One last advise for people who bough through an agent, I would advise to put pressure on them to refund and compensate your loss. In this case the agent did not carefully care out duty of care on the project. As the agent also recommended the lawyer as part of the investment project. If you look carefully at the contract it was stated that Ercan Gunduz is the appointed lawyer for the project.
I hope this information has been very helpful to you all. if you need more information please do not hesitate to contact me. Also if you guys have any point of view or solution don't hesitate to put up on this forum.
Stay blessed and positive
Very impressive information guys, lets keep them coming
Lets keep pushing and posting as much information as possible on the forum
Everyone deserves justice and most importantly to get there monies back
We will get justice. Ercan the game all well planned by not registering any property under his name or identity
From my point view this fraud involves many more people than Ercan who are in higher place
That's why he feels invincible and untouchable by the Turkish government.. I just don't understand who come this guy is not arrested and locked up by now
if anyone has any more information- please kindly post them on the forum
God Bless you all.
Justice for we all soon
Hello to everyone! It is high time someone should name and shame specific parties doing business in the Akbuk region, specifically so called "appointed lawyers" handling the purchase process of off-plan property. When we good hard working people entrust our account to be handled by the proposed appointed lawyer, we expect to be represented in full to the best of his or her ability, unbiased of any personal interest or profit, expecting them to do what they are entrusted to do. Ercan Gunduz an Istanbul based attorney and fluent in the English language, is not such an attorney. In good faith I entrusted him to represent me in the purchase of an off-plan apartment in the Emporium resort, sent him a huge amount of money and rested that all was well. I wired over to him in excess of 20k .At some stage the project was apparently cancelled due to the developers inability to come through with it and proposed an alternative much smaller complex in its place the Laguna Vista. Now you don't need to have studied 10 years as a lawyer to know that cancellation of a project automatically means dissolution or breach of the contract. Now this new project which was by no means anything like the original project, didn't interest me and this is where I wanted my entrusted lawyer to come through for me and protect my interests and get my money back in full. Instead of this happening, Ercan Gunduz, applied unprecedented pressure, trying to pull the wool over my eyes trying to get me to sign over to the new project, totally against my will, using every tactic in the book to get me to sign over. Once I got in contact with other buyers in similar situations and when confronted with the issue, Mr. Ercan in a desperate attempt to salvage his reputation suddenly flipped sides but with months of damage already done, heartache and loss of money. This nonsense needs to stop. Anyone wanting to get in contact for more information please write.
I am sorry that I just stumbled upon this forum - Ercan STOLE $150K from me. I never received my apartment because funds were never turned over to the developer - the details of his theft to me are similar to what I have read here. My attorney has informed me that he cannot be located. Well here in the US we say "every dog has his day".
A senior person in Knight Knox replied:
As an agent Knight Knox sold property in Turkey via our partner, Darren Edwards of Network Turkey. Darren was our contact in Turkey and introduced our clients to the developers and lawyers.
In the case of Centre Point then Darren Edwards introduced the development and collated all of the due diligence necessary for us to promote the project. He also introduced us to the lawyer, Ercan Gunduz. All communication and contract documents were then handled between yourself, Darren and the developer.
Knight Knox does not hold any of your funds here as any reservation deposits were sent over to Turkey so my advice would be to continue to liaise with the developer for any updates.
There was a change of ownership here 3 years ago and we no longer sell properties overseas. We therefore no longer have a working relationship with Darren Edwards although I believe he still lives and works in Turkey.
Kind regards
Received this from the Istanbul Bar Association today (8 Feb.2017)
Dear Mr. Ahmad,
This can only be confirmed through the Prosecutor’s Office, as Istanbul Bar Association does not initiate criminal proceedings against the members and we are not authorized to put penal sanctions on the members, as well.
Istanbul Bar Association carries out disciplinary proceedings to find out whether a lawyer (member) complies with the professional rules /code of conduct regulated under the Turkish Attorneyship Code.
However, according to our records, Ercan Gündüz is still a member of Istanbul Bar Association and you may lodge a complaint against this lawyer following the procedure explained in our previous e-mail.
Kind Regards,
Ece Basmacı Karalar
it was in reply to this link:
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/avukata-dolandiriciliktan-18-yil-hapis-istendi-40312275
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/avukata-dolandiriciliktan-18-yil-hapis-istendi-40312275
Ercan Gunduz seems to have set up a company in the UK in 2010, which was then dissolved 2011. I had correspondence with one of the officers (Elvan Algan) during the time I was buying my property in 2011.. The other officer has an address in Bromley.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07362579
I'm another victim. 'Bought' a Centre Point apartment back in 2011 with Knight Knox as the agents. My last correspondence with Ercan was this:
On Thursday, February 4, 2016 5:52 AM, Ercan Gunduz wrote:
Dear Dr Ahmed,
I trust this mail finds you well.
Firstly, I must request from you to accept my apologies fort he late reply and lack of communication
As I have informed Dr Ahmad too, I would like to confirm that we have won the case.
The Judge has appointed a CPA for the calculation of the payments that we have made, the amount of interest that we have demanded for the payments that we have made and the amount of litagation fees that we have already demanded from the defandants. Frankly, we anticipate to get 70% of the payments initial investment payments made to Ozyurtlar Insaat based on the convictions and rulings given by Turkish Supreme Court in similar cases. I am not sure if the Court will rule that Ozyurtlar should pay us back the commissions paid to the agents. On the other hand, I am sure that the Court will rule that Ozyurtlar should pay for the litigation expenses. I must underscore that all these are my anticipation. We can appeal the Court’s verdict if we are not going to be satisfied with the numbers of the ruling. The dateline for the expert report is two weeks.
I have also been swindled by Ercan Gunduz. Similar to others I bought an apartment in Ozyurtlar's project, which fell through. Having told me of a successful result in court, he then spent over a year giving me false promises of £17, 000 being transferred to my account in the UK. This, of course, did not happen and now he does not reply to emails or telephone calls. I am afraid that if I were to meet him face to face, I would not be responsible for my actions.
The agent was claire stanley from invest turkey
I have also been a victim of this dishonest man and have appointed lawyers from acacia law firm in izmir. They are representing a few people. Their current fee is £908 but will decrease with more clients.
I honestly cant beleive that he has been foooling people for years.
There are no guarantees that money will be returned but we have to do something and appoint someone. I hope in this holy day in ramadan that everyone gets their money back.
Speak to ms Yasmin from Acacia and let her know that you like me (monera) suffered fraud through this fraudster
Wow i have finally just found this forum while trying to find out info on this character that has turned out to be a fraudster i shall be posting soon my experiences.
Thank you for being here and posting updates.
The latest from the Lawyer mentioned in my previous comment:
"Dear All,
We would like to inform you that we, as being the Attorneys of intervening parties –victims-, have finally been able to convince the judge board of 10th High Criminal Court of Bakirkoy to decide to arrest Ercan Gunduz during the hearing held yesterday.
We thought that it is an important news for you therefore wished to share it.
With Regards"
Waiting now to understand the action open to the affected clients.
Earlier the Lawyer has proposed the following:
PROSECUTION OFFICE COMPLAINT - GBP 240
PENAL PROCEEDINGS - 480 GBP
CIVIL PROCEEDINGS - 1, 100 GBP
Court’s duty- 7% of the claimed amount. ¼ of it payable at submission of a file. The remaining to be paid by loosing party et the end of the trial
Advance payment against court’s notifications, expert reports etc, is approximately 250 GBP
Court security for placing Injunction may be required - usually 10%-15% of the case value
Passport Notarization and POA - GBP 200
Please add me to the list of honest people who have been duped by Ercan Gunduz. He has promised me my money back over a period of a two years and made excuses about delays. I paid a deposit on an apartment in the imaginary Laguna Vista project. Knight Knox were the agents and they made many false statements during the sales process but have shown no interest in the plight of thei clients to whom they recommended the investment.. Gunduz has now stopped responding to my emails. If anyone from this forum would like to join forces with me to try to get our money back please email me dtj1956@hotmail.com.
I would also be interested in trying to get some redress through the Turkish Law Society (or whatever the legals association is) to try to get them to do their duty in maintaining professional standards. How can anyone invest in a country when there is no trustworthy legal system in place?
I would love to hear from anyone who would like to join forces - maybe with a view to confronting Gunduz in person!
Bad news guys...
According to the report prepared by the Turkish lawyer, hired by an Agent, who has looked into each case given to him regarding Ercan & the return of monies from Ozyurtlar, it'll be almost "mission impossible" to get our moneys back from Ercan. The report states:
“It is quite frustrating to see Ercan Gunduz is still involving unlawful fraud activities although we have initiated the penal and civil proceedings against him almost 2 years ago. Unfortunately, no arrest decision has been released by the prosecution office or by criminal court.”
“However, we will again claim his arrest during the upcoming hearing of High Criminal Court that will be held in June by declaring the latest chain of events.”
“As stated earlier, we represent a number of clients through both penal proceedings and also civil proceedings against him for the refund of payments transferred to him earlier. Since the beginning (2014) we have been struggling to receive injunction decisions from the civil courts to freeze his accounts at HSBC. However, the civil courts were only to release wrong decisions about their jurisdictions. We have just been able to approach to the essence of the cases.”
“Only very lately we were able to convince one of the judges to send the writs for freezing HSBC accounts. Unfortunately replies of HSBC bank was quite disappointing because they informed the court that the accounts were empty. As a matter of fact, there had been funds in these account in December 2015. We have now submitted petitions to the civil courts about this situation and claimed these funds to be traced by the court and also to make an overall investigation to locate whether there are other bank accounts of Ercan Gunduz. Please note that no property or vehicle record has also been located under Ercan’s name.”
“Although, your clients can surely proceed with prosecution office complaints and civil cases for the funds paid to him and most probably get the result, we have to underline the facts that;
- The trials unfortunately take quite a long time (2 or 3 years and even more with stage of appeal procedure)
- The collection of claims based on court decisions can only be achieved if registered assets can be located under Ercan Gunduz’s name and so far we could locate nothing however hoping to have some progress in this regard. Therefore, we cannot unfortunately guarantee the collections based on current situation.”
For me, the UK agent was Experience International and UPPI. UPPI was only responsible for the "guaranteed rental" side of things and Experience International closed down in 2014.
Who was the Agent in UK you used at the start? and did that agent recomment nominate the Ercan Lawyer. Also what other agents were involved and made recommendations? As surely they then carry some liability because they were instrumental in creating the contract.
Ok folks,
first of all this is not our fault this has happened, i think we all fell disillusioned as too what has happened.
The next thing is we have to have power in numbers!
I don't know the answers, but i'm not lying down until i've explored all opportunities to get our monies back.
I tried the Turkish consulate in London today, to see if they could do anything through diplomatic channels...no joy.
But i have spoken to a Turkish layer in london, his name is Seyran.
i am thinking of going with him.
If any of you are interested in going down this road, let me know.
regards
Ivor.
Obviously, there are those of us who would like to pursue this case and I wish you all the best of luck. Unfortunately, I am totally disillusioned with the process as I have lost trust in Turkish law, and lawyers like Ercan who are crooks. I wish that it were more transparent and honest - but this has been indeed a lesson for me to learn from. Thanks for sharing your opinions and experiences. tm
So you think asking these people to hand over more money to yet another Turkish 'solicitor' is a great idea?
Please?! Grow a brain man!
Having read all these terrible accounts from people who had invested in property in Turkey is really very disappointing and depressing. I think getting an honest and diligent lawyer to represent us sounds really difficult. This lawyer definitely needs to be put to justice! I would like to wish everyone the best of luck as I have become disheartened with trying to pursue this case. It really is extremely hard for me to trust any Turkish lawyer after this Ercan. What a liar, cheat and despicable to say the least. Keep fighting but make sure you have a tough and reputable lawyer. Best, tm
LMei Foo - that is exactly what I am trying to do... but for some reason kwoodger has come to the conclusion that I am Ercan.
I have found a lawyer, via the British Turkish Lawyers Association (BTLA - look it up) and I am in discussions with one of the lawyers that I was referred to. I have been quoted EUR4000+vat to take Ercan to court, but there is no guarantee I will get anything back.
I am still debating as to whether or not I progress with court action, as nearly the price of going to court is rather high. If there was perhaps a group of people that could split the costs and we do a single court case, then maybe.
Here are the lawyers details (again, look him up):-
Orçun Çetinkaya, LL.M.
D : +[protected]
T : +[protected]
F : +[protected]
E : ocetinkaya@morogluarseven.com
www.morogluarseven.com
Akmerkez, B3 Blok Kat: 10, Nispetiye Caddesi, 34337 Etiler Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkey
Why don't all of us get a lawyer in Istanbul to sue Ercan? Ivorski can you introduce your lawyer to us. Please send us his contact and email address so we can start our court case against Ercan. Thank you.
PLEASE BE AWARE OF ERCAN GUNDUZ.
His so called ''LAW FIRM'' is called
Ercan Gunduz
Attorney at Law
Turkish Law Centre
Caddebostan Mahallesi, Sarigul Sokak,
No: 18/9, Kadikoy, 34417, Istanbul, Turkey
E-mail ercan@ercangunduz.av.tr
Mobile +[protected]
Tel +[protected]
Fax +[protected]
Web http://www.ercangunduz.av.tr
Istanbul Bar Association registration number: 40992
Turkish Bar Association registration number:32324
Tax Registration: Goztepe V.D. [protected]
Like all of you I have been a victim of Ercan Gunduzs' fraud practice.
This person is clearly a fraudster and a thief.
In 2012 I transferred him £14, 414 through bank transfer to act as power of attorney on my behalf to purchase a flat in Symbol complex in Istanbul -Turkey.I should mention that Ercan Gunduz was introduced to me through a UK based estate agent as their ''trusted'' lawyer.
Two years later he told me that the apartments are not ready and I should ask for a refund from developers and he will give my money back and will act as my ''lawyer'' to claim the refund.
It has been two years that me and one of my relatives in Istanbul are chasing Ercan Gunduz without any success. We found that through a law firm in istanbul that Ercan Gunduz has a lawsuit against him for the act of fraud and he has taken money off 750 people.
This person is a DISGRACE to call himself a LAWYER and a TURK. He is a THIEF, He is a Faudster.
Can someone else who has found a good lawyer to take Ercan Gunduz to court give us the name of this lawyer so we can use him to claim our money also. Thank you.
Can someone else who has found a good lawyer to take RE an Gundez to court give us the name of this lawyer so we can use him to claim our money also. Thank you.
May I know how I can take action against Ercan Gundez as he had also taken my mo eye and those belonging to my two friends in Malaysia. We also put 12000 £ as deposit which after the court case we never received. Have all your complaints been addressed? Did you file a police report in Istanbul?
Please help.
FLM
You are taking the piss now, I am not Ercan! You have no evidence to back up your statement.
If you do in fact have a lawyer, who is suing Ercan, then surely Ercan would already have his details?
I'd like you to all be aware that our lovely so called 'lawyer', Ercan Gunduz has been using a false account to try to get the the lawyer's name I am using to act against him...by the name of Grahamjc on complaintaboard. DO NOT give him any information, there really is no end to this man's dishonesty.
Please Ercan, grow a conscience and give us all OUR MONEY BACK!
Unfortunatly, i too seem to have been duped by Ercan. Though the story is slightly different. We visited Akbuk and there they were going to Build / Devolop Laguna Vista...This never got off the ground. We too paid £25000 deposit in November 2011. This was actually all started off by Knight Knox an english based company, who charged us a finders fee for this. The building / devolper company that was going to build this was Yagiz Insaat.. Eventually he was in breach of contract and Ercan suggested that we take action and retrieve the monies we had paid for the deposit.
During this Ercan sent me an e-mail to say that the Builder / Devolper had been shot dead on a yacht by a supplier! this i wouldn't have believed, but i googled the local Akbuk paper and there it was in black and white, Yagiz Insaat had been shot dead.
Ercan said that this would delay the case, as of course they would have to calculate all his assets.
Can you please give me the name of a trustworthy lawyer in turkey.
I sincerly hope that ever one gets there monies back. i don't understand why he is getting away with it!
Thanks for your post and your own experience. I wish you the best of luck with your endeavours to get your money back. The man really does give his country and lawyers a bad name.
I had a similar experience with Ercan in Ozyurtlar's project. Ercan does not do litigation so I had to hire a new lawyer to get my money back from the developer, we are still in court. Today though I got a message from my lawyer saying that Ercam illegally managed to get into my file in the court and show them to other client, it's in today's Hurriyet newspaper.
Stay away from him, Katar law firm btw got rid of Ercan, they may not be a bad apple after all.
Thanks for letting me know of your own experience. This Ercan Gunduz needs to be struck off the professional lawyers list but how he has been able to get away with it and cheating people of their hard-earned cash all this time is a sheer disgrace. I wish I had more clout but I am only a retired person who had trust in the UK based company but then again, they should have been aware of his reputation. He gives his country a bad name to foreign investers. Thank you for sharing.
That is my opinion too! I contacted Property Frontiers in the UK and said at the VERY LEAST they should refund my GBP 2K deposit - because they VETTED this guy for me. They refused. I suggest no more business with this firm as well. I am out of $150,000 and no one cares.
I'm sorry you have had such an experience with him. Ercan Gunduz also left a message to us posing to be someone else saying that he had suffered a stroke and our messages would be passed on when he recovered! He then left a message saying that HE would be taking legal action AGAINST US! Just a scare tactic obviously but Wow! I really don't know how he sleeps at night! I'd hate to live with one eye looking over my shoulder.
Basarir Law Office and Katar Law firm are also companies associated/owned by this Ercan Gunduz so please, if you have any sense, stay away from this man! He is a common thief.
He will be brought to justice and we will not leave this alone.
Unfortunately, like you, I am still waiting for payment from an investment I made back in 2011. The emails I have received from Mr Gundunz always sounded promising - and so I decided to wait for the final money transaction. This was back in August 2015. I am still waiting for some kind of confirmation 6 months later. Either it was due to my naivite or lack of experience, I really did have some trust in the law firm, thinking that Ercan would be honest and represent his clients in getting their monies returned. It was by accident that I stumbled on your complaints section. I am not sure what the next steps would be but I do sympathise with you as to what has happened and it gives lawyers and also doing business in Turkey a bad name. I have consequently sent an email twice since I read your complaints - and surprise, surprise - my email bounced back and couldn't be delivered! I agree 100% with your comments and can only hope that we can eventually get reimbursed which looks highly unlikely at this stage of the game.
We too have had an almost identical experience with Ercan Gunduz with the same investment.
We too were told that payment had been made to our bank account. The repayment granted by the court was just under £23000 which we have seen nothing of.
Not only has it made a huge impact on our financial situation, but our home life too. This practice is disgusting and an absolute outrage, Ercan Gunduz is an extraordinarily dishonest and shameful lawyer. I don't know how he is getting away with it and we won't stop until we see justice. I strongly urge people to STAY AWAY from Ercan and his supposed law firm, and keep your trust and your money even further!
I hope you see this Ercan, WE WON'T STOP!