Turkey takes action against illegal gambling networks

The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul has intensified its fight against illegal betting networks in Turkey by filing indictments against 57 suspects, while 28 Provincial Offices detained 206 individuals in connection with fraud and gambling crimes.

The investigations conducted in collaboration with Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) found that payment infrastructure firm Paymix processed and enabled illegal operators to move and hide criminal funds, with the network estimated to have concealed over €4.5 billion in betting transactions. Authorities believe the founder of Basel Holding, Burak Basel, led the operation.

The founder of neobank and digital wallet Papara, Ahmet Faruk Karslı, was also targeted in the crackdown, as prosecutors believe his infrastructure processed more than €250 million in illegal gambling transactions.

Additionally, the coordinated operations conducted by 28 Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices led to the arrest of 100 individuals and found over $253,000 in transaction volume in the suspects’ accounts.

The Ministry of Interior shared:

“In coordination with the Gendarmerie General Command Cyber Crimes Department, MASAK, and Chief Public Prosecutor’s Offices, by our Provincial Gendarmerie Commands; in the operations conducted across 28 provinces, it was determined that the captured suspects;

-Operated illegal gambling,

-Acted as intermediaries for the transfer of proceeds from crime, and

-Defrauded our citizens by posting fake advertisements through social media accounts.

We continue our fight against cyber crimes with determination to ensure that no crime or criminal disturbing the peace of our citizens goes unpunished.”

At the end of the year, government officials are additionally expected to demonstrate an assessment of how state agencies carried out enforcement action against illegal gambling networks to President Erdoğan.