Kenneth Glad
The issue began with a routine banking failure. The account is now under review while the source of the figure is examined.
A bank account belonging to Ahmad Jahangard Takalo, a 32-year-old man living in Van in eastern Turkey, was placed under review after it showed nearly one trillion Turkish lira, according to Euronews.
The displayed amount was 999,999,999,999.99 Turkish lira, or about $21.8 billion. The sum has not been confirmed as legitimate, and the bank blocked access while checks continued.
Takalo, who was born in Azerbaijan and has lived in Turkey for about 10 years, said he had no information about how the money appeared in his account.
Card failure led him to branch
It was first reported that Takalo noticed something was wrong when his card failed during a supermarket purchase.
He went to a bank branch to ask why he could not use it. Staff then checked the account and saw the unexplained figure.
According to Khaama Press News Agency, Takalo told Turkish broadcaster NTV that the situation quickly moved beyond a routine customer-service issue.
“When I went to the bank, the employee called his supervisor, then the branch manager arrived. Everyone gathered around,” he said. “The money had appeared in the account, but it had already been blocked by financial crime investigators. Everyone found the situation unbelievable.”
Bank has not explained source
Takalo said he asked the bank for more information but was not given a full explanation because the review was still ongoing.
Because of the block, he has reportedly been unable to access his accounts, including his own funds.
The displayed amount would have placed him among the world’s richest people if it was valid. For now, the case remains under examination, with no public confirmation of where the figure came from.
Takalo also said he used artificial intelligence to better understand the size of the amount.
The responses he received suggested that a sum of that scale could pay for major infrastructure projects or be used to buy large quantities of gold.
Sources: Euronews, Khaama Press News Agency
