Business help needed - urgently

I am a British person now living in Turkey. I bought some shares of a hotel business from a Turkish friend at the end of the year. Everything was all above board and I got 12.5 per cent of the business. I worked on the hotel preparing it for the season and it opened. I worked 7 days a week in it without wages. The trouble arose when I asked about some money from the profits to live on. I was told there was very little and was given 2750 lire in July and the same again in September. Then I was informed that there was no more and that it was nice doing business with you but our arrangement was over. I have since learned that he has done the same thing with another person. I know that verbal contracts, if substantiated, are accepted by the Turkish courts, and I can show beyond any doubt that we entered into such a contract, but where do I stand??? In my country this would be classed as theft by deception and there would be no hesitation in the police arresting and charging him with such however, can I rely on the police to do the same here?? Can I hold him to this contract??? Doesn't he have to buy the shares back off me at the going rate before any partnership can be dissolved??? As the season has now ended he intends to take whatever profits there are, and I calculate them to be substantial, and salt them away. HELP!!!!

It really sounds fraudry, as to the Turkish law verbal aggreement is enough to setup a contract, but what you say is if you had a share from the hotel -- I suppose a company-- you must have been registered as a shareholder and some other documentaion etc... However apart from that considering just the fraudlent action of the guy, and ignoring the shares etc, again it sounds a fraudlent action as well, what I suggest is to follow the court order but be sure about the ownership of the hotel and I don't know if you have been registered by national insurance etc even from there you should have more claiming points to hit.... But keep in your mind the duration of the court decision...

Perhaps you can get more proper advice either from here and professional advice from a proper lawyer...

I wish you good luck....

Also keep in your mind to have some withness about your work duration, partnership, at least some people who know/saw you there working as a partner...

Thank you for your response to my situation.. Things have moved on considerably since then. We now have a court order freezing all assets of the company and the business owners. The Hakim has opened several files and we have had a Mahkeme date for trial. We have supplied all relevant documentation, bank and witness statements, to the Mahkeme, along with a list of all property obtained and owned by these people. It transpires that this business was started with the use of fraudulently obtained money because that person has now come forward to start legal proceedings as well so things are only getting worse for the so called owners of the business. We have been assured that, once proven, they will loose everything and may very well end up in prison. We have been asked if we want to take the business over ourselves because the owners, I think, have now realised that things are not looking too good for them. We have given them the option of legalising the hand over and walking away with whatever they have obtained elsewhere but as yet they have not responded. Turkish justice does somewhat move in a slightly different way than British justice but they both have one thing in common "justice". I will keep you informed of the final outcome but at the moment, things are looking pretty good.

It is good to hear positive comments as long as you carry out the proper procedure....

Last thing that appears in my mind, this is just a weak guess but just as a warrant/precaution, follow the documentation of the business properly *with someone that you trust---especially acounting/bookkeeping stuff*... If the guys are clever enough their next steps would fair, otherwise there might be some stress for you but tougher punishment for themselves....

Update: ... I have since been to court 2 times regarding the money I gave to this person and at the last hearing his lawyer made a mistake and confirmed that all the money I claim to have paid was in fact paid, therefore, proving my case without us having to go through any more processes. I have another court date at the end of November 2010 at which, I have been informed, the Hakim will give his judgement which can only be favourable to me. What I would like to know is, I have been getting some conflicting reports regarding legal fees. I have been told that the FBB set a minimum legal cost to all law suits, which I believe is %25, and the Hakim will go by this figure when assessing my award. On the other hand, I have been told that the courts do not award legal fees. Could you please tell me which is true? It would be pretty silly to pursue a wrong and end up paying most of that award in legal fees.