Turkey cracks down on illegal betting networks, seizing billions in proceeds

Police operations across Turkey uncovered massive illegal betting and money‑laundering schemes. In Siirt, authorities seized about 120 million lira in illicit proceeds and detained three suspects, linking the funds to bank and crypto accounts used for illegal gambling.

A coordinated sweep in 24 provinces led to the arrest of 82 people, with 74 placed in custody. Investigators identified roughly 192 billion lira in betting‑related transactions and confiscated assets worth about 350 million lira.

A separate probe into a nationwide forex‑related fraud network exposed 14.2 billion lira of laundered money. The scheme used 241 shell companies, virtual POS systems and a custom "M80" accounting program to move funds through banks, gold‑exchange bureaus and USDT crypto, involving low‑income workers such as cleaners, baristas and waste collectors.