156 suspects apprehended in simultaneous illegal betting operations

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated in a post on his social media account that money transfers linked to 19 different illegal betting sites were carried out during the operation, 15 shell companies were identified, and that transaction movements originating from illegal betting in the bank and crypto asset accounts belonging to these companies amounted to approximately 1 billion 224 million 768 thousand liras.

Regarding the operation centered in Adana, Yerlikaya noted that the suspects located in Adana, Istanbul, and Konya had reached agreements with illegal betting sites in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, providing the space and opportunity for these bets to be placed in Turkey as well, and stated the following:

"It has been determined that bank accounts belonging to third parties were obtained in exchange for amounts ranging from 3 thousand to 5 thousand liras, that these obtained accounts were used on illegal betting sites through offices located in Mersin, that there was a transaction volume of approximately 200 million liras in these accounts, and that the deposited money was converted into cash via Cep-Bank and QR code methods and taken abroad through various means."

Reporting on the operation centered in Uşak, Yerlikaya stated that it was determined that a fake e-commerce company website was created to contact citizens under the guise of "earning money through cargo delivery tasks," resulting in 270 thousand liras of illicit gain from a complainant, and that there was a money traffic of approximately 73 million liras in the bank accounts. He announced that during the operations, unlicensed pistols, narcotics, and a total of 245 million liras worth of movable/immovable assets, including 4 automobiles, 9 villas/apartments, and 8 plots of land, as well as accounts held at crypto asset service providers and banks, were seized.

? Futbol ve Diğer Spor Müsabakalarında Bahis ve Şans Oyunları Düzenlenmesi Hakkında Kanuna (7258 Sayılı) Muhalefet,
? Suçtan Kaynaklanan Malvarlığı Değerlerini Aklama,
? Suç Gelirlerinin Aklanması ve
? Nitelikli Dolandırıcılık
suçlarına yönelik SAMSUN, ADANA, UŞAK… pic.twitter.com/dbGwxofLaD

— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) January 30, 2024

News Source: 12punto