Bitexen owner Kemal Cenk Erdem arrested

As part of an investigation conducted by the Istanbul Investigation Bureau for Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Crimes, Kemal Cenk Erdem was referred to the Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace with a request for his arrest. The court decided to arrest Erdem.

The court highlighted the financial connections between DinamikPay, Bitexen, and Erdem

In its decision, the court stated that Kemal Cenk Erdem does not appear as a direct shareholder, board member, or authorized representative in the trade registry of Dinamik Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş. It was noted that Erdem is the husband of Ayşin Erdem, the founder and long-time sole shareholder and controlling partner of the company, and that he has partnership and corporate ties with Bitexen Kripto Varlık Alım Satım Platformu A.Ş., Evenpal Teknoloji A.Ş., and KCE Finansal Teknoloji Yatırımları A.Ş.

The decision also stated that money transfers linked to Bitexen and Kemal Cenk Erdem were detected within the capital sources of DinamikPay and Dinamik Yatırım, and that there were two-way financial movements approaching 100 million TL between Ayşin Erdem and Erdem.

The decision, which noted that statements in the case file identified Erdem as an influential person in the de facto management and financial decision-making mechanism of the corporate group, stated that therefore, evaluating Erdem solely as "Ayşin Erdem's husband" was inconsistent with the findings in the file.

The court stated that, after evaluating the existing financial records, corporate connections, and consistent statement contents together, it reached the conclusion that there were findings and evidence requiring a detailed investigation into Erdem regarding the crimes of mediating the transfer of money linked to illegal betting and laundering assets derived from crime.

In his defense at the court, Erdem denied the accusations against him, stating, "I have had no commercial activity with the mentioned company through the company where I am the chairman of the board. I request my release."

The court ruled for the arrest of Kemal Cenk Erdem, citing the existence of facts indicating strong suspicion of a crime, the presence of concrete facts regarding the suspicion of flight, the fact that evidence has not yet been fully collected, and the assessment that judicial control measures would be insufficient.

News Source: 12punto