Arrested in the Flash TV case: Statements by channel owner Erkan Kork revealed! 'He defrauded Hajj candidates'

As part of an illegal betting investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 21 people, including the owner of the payment institution PayFix and the new owner of Flash TV, Erkan Kork, were arrested.

The processing of 52 suspects detained in an operation carried out by Istanbul Police Department teams on March 14, 2025, has been completed. 31 people, including Erkan Kork, who is alleged to be the leader of the organization, were referred to the duty magistrate judge with a request for arrest on charges of "acting as an intermediary for money transfers related to fixed-odds or mutual betting or games of chance based on sports competitions," "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes," and "laundering assets derived from crime." The court decided to arrest 21 people, including Erkan Kork.

According to a report by Halk TV, Erkan Kork stated in his testimony in court that his monthly income was 500 thousand TL and did not accept the accusations against him. Kork said, "Today, I stand before you as a businessperson who has paid their taxes. I stand before you as the board of directors of Bank Pozitif, which is also owned by Israel."

He also stated that by purchasing Flash Haber, he was conducting broadcasting in accordance with Turkish customs and traditions. Kork argued that he had been under technical and physical surveillance for a long time, but that there was no information or documentation against him.

He questioned why he was given a clean record report when purchasing Flash TV if these accusations existed.

Kork's brother, Hamza Kork, said that although he appeared as the owner of PayFix on paper, he had no involvement in the company's operations. Hamza Kork's lawyer stated that Erkan Kork was a "despotic manager" and that his client had taken the company shares under his name, albeit reluctantly.

On the other hand, actress Meltem Beydilli was also among those detained. Beydilli stated that she worked as an actress in TV series and movies, that she worked at Kork's company for about 6 months, and that Kork was a family friend. She also said that the movie 'Hain', which was released last year, was produced by Kork's company, Fix 360.

Within the scope of the investigation, the television channel named Flash Haber TV, which is part of Kork's company Göktuğ Multimedya Yayıncılık Anonim Şirketi, was seized along with the company it is affiliated with.

Furthermore, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) announced that the management of BankPozitif Kredi ve Kalkınma Bankası has been transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).

The statement indicated that it was decided for the partnership rights of the bank to be exercised by the TMSF within the scope of the investigation conducted by judicial authorities regarding PayFix Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri A.Ş., a qualified shareholder of BankPozitif.

HE HAD DEFRAUDED HAJJ CANDIDATES

On the other hand, it was learned that Erkan Kork, who was detained in the mid-2000s on charges of defrauding Hajj candidates, established an illegal betting site in 2016, according to correspondence that entered the case file. In the mentioned correspondence, it was understood that Kork received 3000 TL and 2000 TL from Hasan Mercan, a catering company owner with whom he was tried together, for the mobile application of the betting site.