Pauline Read expresses her Outrage against Akfinans Bank

This email was received by me from Pauline Read and with her permission I am publishing her personal opinion unedited for legal reasons:

“It would seem, as usual, the bank applies its double standards. You may not utter our name but we can say exactly what we please, through our Advocate Talat Kursat, though of course we all know the bank’s legal adviser is Akan Kursat of outstanding EAW warrant fame for his alleged shareholding in Aga Development Limited. You will all remember Amaranta as the carcasses of the villas never finished still sit there as a constant reminder to the hundreds of purchasers who invested their life savings in this site. More victims of the property scams that have blighted the lives of so many. You will also remember that the main shareholder of Aga was the infamous Gary Robb who is now languishing in a RoC prison cell, although if my memory serves me well, he cannot be long from his release date.

I have answered the allegations published in Yeniduzen on the 2 March 2012, but it would seem their version of the Press Release was the abridged version and Halkin Sesi have a full page of allegations in their published version. This of course has to beg the question, just how many Turkish language newspapers did this Press Release appear in?

Sometimes fate does conspire to take a hand, I was invited by radio presenter Ozgun Kutalmis to appear on his radio show on Mayis radio (96 fm). I had gone armed with the Press Release from Yeniduzen and it had been my intention to ask Ozgun to question me on the content and in doing so, allow me the right of reply. Well great minds certainly do think alike because Ozgun was armed with the bigger and more detailed version in Halkin Sesi. In fact it takes up the whole of page 4 of the 2nd of March edition. At this point I should mention that as well as being a popular and talented radio presenter, Ozun Kutalmis is also Head of the Nicosia Branch of the Social Democratic Party the TDP.

The first thing Ozgun said to me was that there was no censorship on this radio station, that I could mention the bank by name as long as I did not insult or denigrate the bank in any way. I tried to avoid mentioning the bank at all, but I may have slipped up a few times. I do not believe I violated the guidelines explained by Ozgun.

A brief resume was given by me on the history of my purchase. I was of course ably assisted by Husnu Kisi, whose presence is always very soothing for me, but I cannot imagine being around me is very good for Husnu’s blood pressure because the more injustice he witnesses, the more his blood pressure must be rising. He is a man of principle and finds what is happening here so very disturbing.

I wont go over the points I answered in my previous reply to the Yeniduzen article, other than to say, I am still outraged that the bank’s legal adviser thinks it is okay to publish details of anything that is not relevant to the Kulaksiz 5 -v- the bank and to do so is an invasion of my privacy and a violation of my Human Rights. I still question how some of the material published was made available to them as they are not my Advocates.

I would say that although I am not going to repeat the answers I gave to the Yeniduzen article, I did however cover all those points and the extra points raised in the Halkin Sesi. Strangely Ozgun did note on air when asking about the ‘baseball bats’ allegation, that he had when shaking Chris’s hand that he had observed some disablity in Chris’s fingers. I had never intended to go public with this because it causes Chris distress and embarrassment, but since Ozgun introduced this into the interview I have to tell you all that Chris has fingers on both hands that are bent into the palm and are set rigid in that position. No amount of forcing can shift these frozen fingers. I have heard the condition referred to as trigger finger, I am not sure and indeed am not medically qualified but I believe it is caused by some form of contracture. He had one finger operated on in the UK some years ago but the operation was not a success and that finger is now worse than before the operation. This condition causes him great distress as he cannot easily do any of things he used to be able to, washing his hair, even washing his face is very difficult and I have to help him. The bank have already tried to cause us hurt and humiliation by referring to us a ‘lover’ and ‘mistress’, trying to reduce our 28 year loving relationship into something sordid and nasty.

It seems the bank have alleged that the K5 did not pay for their homes. I had copies of all the cheques from when I actually paid back in 2005/6 and showed these to Ozgun whilst we were on air. I personally voiced the opinion that the bank, through their legal advisers were insulting the courts and the legal system suggesting this because none of the cases would have been accepted unless the court had been convinced we were the owners and had paid. In my case, the Judge would not have given me my Court award in my Breach of Contract if I had not demonstrated that I had fulfilled my side of the Conract, i.e. to pay. Once again I ask, where did you obtain a copy of my Court Award Document Mr. Kursat and I know you do not have my permission to publish it.

They also alleged that instead of chasing the builder over the debt/mortgage, we were chasing the bank. Well right back at you, Mr Kursat…did we borrow the money…did we owe you any money?…why are you chasing us, punishing us, making our lives a misery over a debt we did not incur. Surely since the bank loaned the money to the builder and the landowner, why would we be suddenly involved in a transaction YOU chose not to tell us about. The bank loaned the money to the builder/landowner so it was there obligation to chase THEIR borrowers. From listening to Dr Cakici on Monday, it would appear that is the way the TDP party see it too. The debt is between the borrower and the lender and should not affect the purchaser who has the first interest in the property/land by virtue of the fact the purchasers transaction pre dates the loan. That in fact by taking the loan, an act of fraud as taken place with the bank as the victim (shame).

The old chestnut that we should have paid the debt when it first became known in 2008 and was only 350,000 lira – why? Did we borrow the money?

Unless I misunderstood and let’s face it when allegations are made against a non Turkish speaker in Turkish, the accused is at a great disadvantage. However I believe the bank is also saying we bought our villas knowing that the mortgages were in place. That is not true. Every one of us had a Contract which was signed by the purchasers and the vendors saying there were no mortgages and the vendors undertook to keep the land mortgage free. It was not until we were registering our contracts under the new law in 2008 that the existence of mortgages was discovered and even then, it was discovered that one contract had been signed as mortgage free but in fact the small mortgage was ALREADY in existence and one contract was signed with the two mortgages in place. Both fraudulent acts for which the vendors deserve prosecuting, but it is my understanding that 8 of the contracts had been signed whilst the land was mortgage free.

I think I have dealt with the most significant accusations, but hey, who knows what else they will think of.

That the bank recommends I be deported is an outrageous demand and if they succeed in achieving this, it will bring shame on the country. My only crime is to ask for justice, to expose untruths and to speak my mind. Because I am not Turkish Cypriot am I not allowed any freedoms, if speaking the truth is a crime, then I plead guilty.

As you can all imagine I am a nervous wreck, I cannot sleep and my every waking thought is of this situation. I have taken the precaution of having four copies of all my paperwork put in four different locations, this includes the UK. I have been warned to be very careful even when shopping because something could be dropped into your bag and I could be accused of a crime. This is not the way I envisaged the winter of my life would be. My dreams are shattered, my hope non existent. What do I expect the future to hold for me – nothing. Will I give in and run away – never.”

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