An employee at a court in Istanbul shocked his colleagues and acquaintances when he stole a safe deposit box containing 75 kilograms of gold and silver, for which he was responsible, and left Turkey with his family. The details of the incident came to light last Monday when the public prosecutor at the 'Buyukcekmece' court in western Istanbul conducted a search of the safe due to the long absence of the employee responsible for it. The public prosecutor was surprised to find that the safe, which contained 25 kilograms of gold and twice as much silver, was completely empty, before it became clear that the responsible employee, named 'Erdal Timurtas', had left with his family for England, which strengthened suspicions that he had stolen it. Erdal's colleagues were also surprised by the accusation, as they had known him since his appointment to the court in 2021 as a calm and well-mannered person. He had temporarily taken responsibility for the safe due to the absence of the responsible person, who was undergoing cancer treatment. The owner of a shop near the court building, named 'Erkut Sanmak', said that Erdal visited him daily, and he knew that he was married to a teacher and had two children, and also owned a car. According to him, considering Erdal's calm demeanor and character, it was impossible to expect him to get involved in such a theft. The authorities are continuing their investigation into the case and have detained an employee working in the same office, named Kemal, to find out the circumstances of what happened and how such a large quantity of jewelry was removed without the court guards noticing. Turkish media reported that Erdal came in early on the day of the theft last month and left shortly after. It is believed that he took the jewelry from the safe entrusted to him on that day. The safe contained necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and gold coins, in addition to large quantities of raw silver, which the authorities had seized in operations to combat the smuggling of precious metals. Its value is estimated at approximately 147 million Turkish liras (about 3.5 million dollars). It is not yet clear whether the employee Erdal actually planned the theft alone, without accomplices. Initial investigations indicated that he obtained a UK entry visa several months before the incident and traveled last month for a vacation, as his mother stated, who believes he was merely a pawn in what happened.
