ISTANBUL, Dec 14 (AFP) - A Turkish court on Tuesday freed controversial opposition politician Cem Uzan, who was detained late Sunday in connection with a major scandal involving a bank once owned by his family, media reports said.
Uzan, leader of the small nationalist Youth Party, who was released to await trial, was detained at his Istanbul villa and questioned about seized documents allegedly concerning a large-scale corruption scandal last year in his family`s flagship Imar bank.
CNN-Turk television reported that Uzan and nine others, including senior executives of his family`s now-defunct business empire, faced charges of fraud, setting up a criminal gang, and concealing and falsifying documents.
It was not immediately known when their trial would start.
The Uzan empire, once among Turkey`s richest, began to fall apart in 2003 when authorities seized control of two power utilities operated by the family, the first move in a judicial onslaught against the clan on corruption charges.
The authorities later seized Imar and discovered a huge deficit, which Economy Minister Ali Babacan described as "theft of a size that may go down in world banking history."
Citing the Uzans` reluctance to negotiate a repayment scheme, officials went on to seize all their 219 companies, including Turkey`s second-largest mobile phone operator Telsim, in a bid to recover some 5.6 billion dollars needed to reimburse Imar account holders.
Cem Uzan argued that the campaign aimed to destroy his political future.
His party was once seen as a rival of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan`s Justice and Development Party, but it has been on the wane since it failed to win any seats in general elections in November 2002.
His father and brother, who are currently on the run, are among 17 people indicted for fraud and embezzlement in the Imar Bank scandal.
The charge sheet says the bank hid the real amount of deposits, sold non-existing treasury bonds and channelled funds into off-shore accounts.
12/14/2004 16:18 GMT - AFP