Türkiye’s illegal betting crackdown expands: 59 detained, including media owner

Turkish authorities launched a new probe into illegal betting on Friday morning, detaining 59 individuals, including Erhan Kork, owner of Turkish banking company BankPozitif, popular payment platform PayFix, and news channel Flash TV. Twenty-three companies affiliated with Kork, including these, were also seized.

According to the information obtained by Turkish news outlet haberturk.com, the probe, conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime Investigation Bureau, includes charges of “establishing a criminal organization,” “money laundering from criminal proceeds,” and “violating betting laws,” alleging that Erkan Kork was the leader of the operation.

As part of the operation, authorities confiscated 17 residences, nine land plots, one office, and 13 vehicles belonging to Erkan Kork and his alleged associates.

Personal bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, along with 114 company-owned vehicles and various corporate assets, including partnership shares, were also seized. The total estimated value of the seized assets stands at ₺6.9 billion ($220 million).

Payment platform at the center of allegations

Owned by Erhan Kork, Payfix is a Türkiye-based payment institution that provides digital payment and money transfer services, offering users virtual wallets for financial transactions. Unlike traditional banks, PayFix is commonly referred to as a payment service provider, enabling quick and secure online payments, often used in e-commerce and digital financial services.

According to claims in the investigation file, Kork founded Payfix as part of an organized system to facilitate illegal gambling transactions. Software developed under Payfix was reportedly integrated into platforms referred to as “panels” by illegal betting operators, allowing foreign-based virtual betting sites to operate in Türkiye.

The investigation further alleges that suspects facing arrest used Payfix’s infrastructure to process payments for illegal betting sites, disguising gambling revenues through fraudulent accounts created under third parties’ names, suggesting that Erkan Kork and other suspects operated Payfix as a network of trusted associates.

Prosecutors also allege that they used illicit profits to acquire Pozitifbank in 2023, before expanding their operations by establishing or taking over several companies, including Capital Turk Holding, Ay Para Payment Institution, and Ininal Payment and Electronic Money Services.

Authorities claim that these entities were used to launder criminal proceeds and generate illicit profits.

Findings by the financial crimes board and the central bank

Reports by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and the Turkish central bank revealed that Payfix’s database contained 80,011 separate transaction clusters, involving a total of 211,109 accounts. Among these, 855 accounts were flagged as high-risk concerning illegal betting.

Authorities claim that the financial patterns resemble illegal betting typologies, with 4.2 billion Turkish liras ($135 million) transferred from the bank accounts of analyzed individuals to cryptocurrency service providers.

Additionally, an analysis of IP addresses used for these transactions identified 43,861 Payfix wallet accounts involved in 49.67 million betting-related transactions between Aug. 21 and Oct. 19, 2023.

In Türkiye, illegal betting refers to unauthorized gambling or wagering activities conducted outside the legal framework established by the state, which is primarily regulated under Law No. 7258 on Betting and Games of Chance in Football and Other Sports Competitions.