German charity fraud case file to be delivered to Turkey this evening

The file is being couriered to the Turkish Foreign Ministry from Germany, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said.     Â

"The file will be submitted to the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday," Sahin was quoted by the Anatolian Agency as telling reporters after a meeting with German counterpart Brigitte Zypries in Istanbul on Monday.

In the Deniz Feneri e.V. case, viewed as the biggest charity scandal in German history, a court in Frankfurt jailed last September three managers from the charity's local branch for directing 14.5 million euro ($20.6 million) of donated funds collected from the Turkish community in the country into private companies.

Several people based in Turkey, including the head of Turkey's radio and television watchdog, Zahid Akman, were implicated as the masterminds amid claims that the charity, whose founders are close to the ruling government, might have funneled funds into the prime minister's Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).

"Our judicial organs will do what they have to do if there are documents and information showing a crime was committed, irrespective of who committed that crime," Sahin also said.

He said Turkish prosecutors would examine the file and would assess whether the file had connections in Turkey.

Sahin added Zypries and he discussed judicial assistance between the two countries and also agreed to speed up judicial processes and improve judicial relations.