By Anne Losensky
District Court, high-security room 142. Cengiz C. (45) is sitting behind bulletproof glass. Black shirt, undercut. Like a king holding court, he waves to his people in the auditorium.
The restaurateur is said to be a big number in the Turkish community. It is said that he owns around twenty bars through straw people, several of them on Hackescher Markt (middle). The Turkish restaurateur is said to have had contacts in the highest circles.
That ended on November 16, 2022. Since then, the “King of Hackescher Markt” has been behind bars in custody along with his entourage.
At that time, the State Criminal Police Office searched 13 private and business addresses in Mitte, Tempelhof, Baumschulenweg, Lichtenberg, Wedding and Neukölln with special forces (a total of 250 officers). Two pistols, a revolver, high-quality wristwatches, cash, data carriers and mobile phones were confiscated. The “Organized Crime” department of the Berlin public prosecutor’s office had been investigating for months. Four arrest warrants were executed.
Cengiz C. and his entourage are said to have taken a Berlin tax and business consultant (56) into his Kudamm office on December 21, 2021 and abused him for hours. The victim is virtually blind (94 percent visually impaired).
Cengiz C. is said to have put a gun in the man’s mouth, held a broken glass to his larynx and announced that he would kill his son. According to the indictment, his demand: a promissory note for 5 million euros. The scene of the crime was a popular Turkish restaurant on Charlottenstrasse (Kreuzberg), which, according to the indictment, C. wanted to incorporate right away.
A businesswoman is said to have been threatened with a gun and feared to death. The gangsters were initially satisfied with “ransom money”, according to the accusation. A Maybach Daimler Benz, a Range Rover and 39,000 euros.
Now Cengiz C. is sitting in the dock with five of his followers (27-44). The allegations are particularly serious extortion, deprivation of liberty, dangerous bodily harm, violation of the weapons law.
They want to testify on May 10th. Up to ten years imprisonment. Judgment on August 9th.
.