Turkish prosecutors have moved to freeze the assets of former Family Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya and her husband, Ilyas Kaya, amid allegations that they profited from a major investment fund crisis.

Prosecutors sent a letter to relevant institutions requesting the freezing of all assets belonging to the couple as part of an investigation into the collapse of what authorities have described as a “Ponzi-like” investment scheme.

The move came days after Kaya, a senior official of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), resigned from her position as deputy party chairwoman.

Kaya, who served as Turkey’s family minister from 2016 to 2018, said her resignation was intended to allow any investigation into the allegations to proceed independently and impartially.

The allegations were raised by Turkey’s main opposition Yeni Parti, which called for clarification over claims that Kaya and her husband invested about 63 million Turkish lira, valued at roughly $1.3 million, in April and later sold their holdings for about 1.3 billion lira, or $26.5 million.

Yeni Party official Gökhan Günaydın alleged that Kaya had access to insider information and said the party would disclose further names connected to the affair.

Kaya has not admitted wrongdoing, while the allegations remain subject to investigation.

The wider crisis began in September after several investment funds reportedly became unable to meet redemption requests, triggering a sharp fall in Turkey’s main stock market index.

Regulators subsequently moved to liquidate seven companies holding 131 investment funds, whose combined assets were reportedly worth about $17 billion. More than 455,000 individual investors were said to have been affected.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has defended his ruling party while pledging action against those found responsible for wrongdoing.

The investigation has expanded to alleged fraud, market manipulation and other financial offences, with several individuals and entities already facing measures by authorities.

The asset freeze against Kaya and her husband forms part of the broader investigation into the investment fund crisis and the financial transactions surrounding it.