BREAKING NEWS: Flash TV and PayFix owner Erhan Kork and 30 suspects arrested: Accused of establishing an illegal betting gang
In an illegal betting investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, arrest requests were filed for 31 suspects, including Erhan Kork, the owner of Flash TV and Pozitifbank. Detention warrants had been issued for 59 people in the operation that began on March 14. As part of the investigation, Flash TV, Pozitifbank, and Payfix Payment Institution were seized.
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In the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's investigation, it was alleged that Erhan Kork led the organization and laundered proceeds from illegal betting. In addition to Pozitifbank, Flash TV, and Payfix Payment Institution, which are owned by Kork, a total of 23 companies were seized. Within the scope of the operation, a seizure measure was also applied to assets worth 6 billion 900 million TL.
It is alleged that illegal betting sites abroad were enabled to operate in Turkey through the payment institution named Payfix. It was determined that Erhan Kork had been integrating illegal betting panels using Payfix's financial software system since 2014. It was established that Kork entered the financial system through a company called Troyin Bilişim and was in intense contact with illegal betting organizations.
In the report prepared by MASAK, 80 thousand 11 different money transfer clusters were detected in Payfix's database system. While there were a total of 211 thousand 109 accounts in these clusters, it was noted that 855 account holders were seen as risky within the scope of illegal betting. According to the report, 4 billion 223 thousand 399 liras were sent from the bank accounts of the analyzed individuals to crypto asset service providers. It was determined that 49 million 671 thousand 178 money transfer transactions were carried out through 43 thousand 861 Payfix wallet accounts between August 21 and October 19, 2023.
SHELL COMPANY ALLEGATIONS
In the investigation, it was determined that the suspects established or took over many shell companies to launder proceeds from crime. It was claimed that in addition to the acquisition of Pozitifbank, companies such as Capital Türk Holding, Ay Para Ödeme Kuruluşu, and Ininal Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri AŞ were also used for this purpose.
Within the scope of the operation, 17 residences, 9 plots of land, 1 office, 13 vehicles, and personal accounts and crypto wallets belonging to the organization leader and members were seized. In addition, a seizure measure was applied to 23 companies and 114 vehicles and partnership shares belonging to these companies.
Flash Haber TV, which is under the Göktuğ Multimedya Yayıncılık Anonim Şirketi owned by Erhan Kork, who is alleged to be the leader of the organization, was also seized. The television channel was included in the scope of the operation along with the company it is affiliated with.