Travel ban imposed on Gökalp İçer, owner of crypto company ICRYPEX

As money-laundering influencers, crypto scams, arrests, and high-profile figures defrauded with promises of high returns continue to dominate Turkey's agenda, a new development has emerged.

Three Azerbaijani diplomats had filed a criminal complaint alleging they were defrauded by Gökalp İçer, the owner of the crypto company ICRYPEX, and Murat Şirinov, who was identified as an employee of the company registered with the Social Security Institution (SGK).

12punto has learned that the Azerbaijani diplomats who filed the criminal complaint are Farrukh Jumayev, Hasanali Hasanov, and Jeyhun Shahverdiyev, all of whom are officials at the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States.

Following the criminal complaint by the three diplomats, an investigation was launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and ICRYPEX owner Gökalp İçer began standing trial for fraud at the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court under case file number 2023/376 E, facing a potential 7.5-year prison sentence.

After the Azerbaijani diplomats filed their complaint, the legal proceedings involving suspects Murat Şirinov and Gökalp İçer were covered by various media outlets; however, after some time, the news reports were removed from publication without a court order following initiatives by Gökalp İçer and his lawyer.

12punto.com.tr has obtained all the details regarding the process.

According to information obtained from the statements of the complainants Farrukh Jumayev, Hasanali Hasanov, and Jeyhun Shahverdiyev, Murat Şirinov introduced himself as the owner of Amig Capital Limited Company.

Şirinov promised the diplomats regular high profit shares if they invested, stated that their investments would be tracked via an application called Meta Trader, and claimed that if they provided 50 thousand dollars at once, they would be given a partnership percentage.

It was learned that complainant diplomat Jeyhun Shahverdiyev, expecting high returns, initially provided a total of 110 thousand dollars and 31 thousand Euros in installments and in cash, that other diplomats subsequently made payments, and that the total amount exceeding 350 thousand dollars could not be recovered.

The diplomats, who tracked their accounts via the Meta Trader application, eventually suspected they had been defrauded and demanded their principal amounts and profit shares from Şirinov and İçer.

However, Murat Şirinov told the three diplomats that the license for the Meta Trader application, for which ICRYPEX CEO Gökalp İçer held the license, had been revoked.

Hasanali Hasanov, one of the diplomats who could not access his account, alleged in his statement that suspect Murat Şirinov did not introduce him to Gökalp İçer for a while, and that during the period when they could not get their money back, they went to İçer's office, where Şirinov and Gökalp İçer would go into a separate room to hold meetings, playing a "good cop-bad cop" routine.

It was learned that the diplomats filed the fraud complaint at the beginning of 2023 and that the indictment was prepared in October 2023.

The lawyer for the complainants, who responded to questions from 12punto.com.tr, confirmed that the process is ongoing.

A travel ban was imposed on Gökalp İçer and Murat Şirinov, who were released under judicial control, due to the risk of flight.

İçer's lawyer, Özge Özkan, appealed the judicial control and the travel ban, but the appeal was rejected.

Murat Şirinov also requested the removal of his travel ban to go to Azerbaijan, citing the need to see his mother, who is a cancer patient.

ICRYPEX CEO Gökalp İçer and Murat Şirinov will appear before the judge on December 18, 2023.