Young carpenter apprentice faces up to 250 years in prison over fake rental scam

Abdurrahman Evli, a 20-year-old carpenter apprentice living in Reyhanlı, opened a mobile banking account to receive his weekly wage. He gave his phone number to his master's nephew so the account could be opened, but the account number was allegedly used by others.

Fake advertisements for rental bungalows and vehicles were published on social media. People were asked to send money to the account opened in Evli's name.

“My son Abdurrahman was working as a carpenter in Reyhanlı. The master's nephew told him, Abdurrahman, you are working with my uncle. Let us deposit your weekly wage into your account.”

Twenty-seven fraud complaints were filed from various provinces including Sakarya, Antalya, Bursa, Ankara, and Istanbul. Evli faces 17 investigation files and 10 prosecution files.

After receiving prison sentences from three of the files, Evli began serving his sentence at Kilis Prison as a convict.

His father Harun Evli said his son fell into the nephew's trap and learned the truth from notifications that began arriving three weeks later. His lawyer Ferhat Karlı stated that Evli could face up to 250 years in prison if given the maximum sentence across all files.

Karlı added that Evli is a victim because GSM lines were opened in his name without his knowledge and consent.