In 1942, Vehbi Koç, who had not played any role in the Varlik Vergisi, saw the opportunities it afforded him as a businessman and took over many collapsed or confiscated companies. One such acquisition by Koç was a building in Istanbul owned by an Armenian named Margarios Ohanyan, who had sold the property worth 1.5-2 million liras through public auction at a price significantly below value, in the owner's attempt to avoid paying the tax-hike.[7] Koç, nevertheless, hired many of the former owners and treated them with fairness and without racial prejudice.[8]