 In February 2009, the newspaper received an 826.2 million TL (US$523 million) fine for tax evasion by Doğan Group/Petrol Ofisi.Following this, the Istanbul Stock Exchange suspended Doğan Holding's shares, and Fitch downgraded "Hürriyet" to 'BB-'.Executives at the Doğan Group expressed the opinion that the tax fine was politically motivated "intimidation", caused by "Hürriyet"'s linking of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his political party, AKP, to a charity scandal in Germany.