6.6 billion lira heist and 101 detentions in Kocaeli-centered betting operation

Under the coordination of the Kocaeli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the work carried out by the Kocaeli Provincial Police Department Cyber Crime Branch teams turned into one of the largest operations against illegal betting in recent times across Turkey. As a result of technical and physical surveillance lasting months, a large-scale investigation was launched against a criminal organization that managed illegal betting and gambling organizations in an organized manner through proxy companies. Within the scope of the investigation, teams tracking the financial flow of the criminal organization determined that the suspects established 15 different proxy companies to legalize and hide their illegal betting revenues.

Detailed financial analyses revealed the extent of the criminal organization's financial network. It was determined that a massive money movement of approximately 6 billion 657 million 746 thousand lira took place in the last 3 months through proxy company accounts and direct betting accounts. It was understood that the suspects used gold accounts and crypto currency assets to launder this large amount of money into the system and tried to obscure their financial tracks. In light of the evidence obtained, it was decided to seize the accounts deemed to have been acquired from crime, and the button was pressed for the operation.

Pursuant to the plan prepared within the scope of the investigation, a simultaneous operation was launched on June 30 in 31 different provinces, centered in Kocaeli. The Cyber Crime Branch teams, organizing simultaneous raids across Turkey, aimed to collapse the hierarchy of the criminal organization. Within the scope of the operation, 120 suspects for whom arrest warrants had been issued by judicial authorities were detained. During the searches at the addresses, a large number of digital materials believed to be linked to the crime, along with 2 unlicensed handguns and 108 cartridges, were seized.

The 120 detained suspects were questioned by the prosecutor at the courthouse after being referred there following the completion of their procedures at the police station. As a result of the interrogations and the evaluation of the evidence, all individuals except for 19 suspects, who were released under judicial supervision conditions due to insufficient suspicion, were arrested. As the most significant result of the operation, 101 suspects were arrested and sent to prison on charges such as 'operating illegal betting' and 'laundering crime proceeds,' while it was learned that the investigation is ongoing in a multidimensional manner and work continues against other perpetrators.

This operation not only disrupted the criminal organization but also fully exposed the financial dimension of illegal betting networks in Turkey. The circulation of over 6.6 billion lira in a short period of 3 months proved once again how much of a burden such criminal organizations place on the country's economy and the legal financial system. Thanks to the successful work of the Cyber Crime Branch teams, the massive amounts of money trying to be laundered through proxy companies were prevented, and crime assets were seized.