Illegal betting had reached high schools: 'Money laundering' statement from Mehmet Şimşek

Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek explained the efforts being carried out to raise public awareness regarding the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Emphasizing that they attach importance to awareness-raising activities by considering the critical role of public awareness in preventing these crimes, Şimşek stated that university students, in particular, can engage in "account lending" activities.

"THEY MAY FACE PRISON SENTENCES IN THE FUTURE..."

Stating that MASAK is cooperating with the Council of Higher Education (YÖK), the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), and the Ministry of Youth and Sports to provide the necessary information to university students on this issue, Şimşek said, "University students should not allow their bank accounts to be used by people who launder money or finance terrorism in order to earn income. Young people should not darken their futures, whether knowingly or unknowingly. This situation causes individuals who launder money or finance terrorism to achieve their ultimate goals by carrying out high-volume money transfers to lose the trail of the money."

In this context, pointing to the accounts opened by students in vocational training for internship wages, Şimşek said, "Those who allow their accounts to be used may face prison sentences in the future. Young people should know that even if they get involved in these matters unknowingly, they will end up with a criminal record and risk darkening their futures," he said.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Providing information that MASAK is primarily cooperating with RTÜK to prevent this situation, Şimşek announced that the public service announcement prepared by TRT has begun airing on television channels.

POSTERS WILL BE HUNG IN DORMITORIES

Furthermore, explaining that posters prepared by MASAK to raise awareness among university students have been forwarded to YÖK to be sent to universities, Şimşek made the following assessments:

"In these posters, students were warned: 'Do not burn your future accounts. You may face heavy prison sentences if your bank accounts are used for money transfers in crimes such as money laundering, financing of terrorist organizations, and fraud. Do not let others use your bank accounts.' Similar cooperation was also carried out with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Posters prepared by MASAK were sent to the Ministry to be hung in both dormitories belonging to the General Directorate of Credit and Dormitories and private dormitories. Following YÖK, we are also initiating a joint study with the Ministry of National Education to inform young people of secondary education age."

Stating that they will continue their activities to inform the public strongly on these issues by strengthening the legal legislation and the institutional structure of MASAK in order to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Şimşek said, "Combating money laundering is also important in terms of preventing tax loss and evasion. We will closely follow every type of informal transaction that will cause the state to lose revenue."

Emphasizing that MASAK continues its work on preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism without interruption in cooperation with law enforcement and judicial authorities, Şimşek noted the following:

"MASAK provides very important contributions to both law enforcement units and judicial units on many issues related to money laundering, especially drug trafficking, organized crime, illegal betting, and fraud. MASAK obtains suspicious transaction reports and other information from the financial sector on the one hand, and obtains information and documents from investigations carried out by judicial authorities and law enforcement forces on the other. The collected data and the information and documents in the investigation files are blended with technological tools and expert knowledge and subjected to analysis with high precision. As a result of these analyses, new leads regarding crimes and criminals are provided to judicial authorities and law enforcement forces, criminal suspicions are finalized, new criminal networks are exposed, and the seizure of money laundered from crime is ensured."