Ankara crackdown arrests 44 betting suspects, uncovers 5.3 bn lira flow

Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Bilişim Suçları office coordinated a nationwide illegal‑betting and online‑gambling raid. Simultaneous raids across the city resulted in 86 people being detained; 44 of them were subsequently ordered into pre‑trial detention and later sentenced to prison.

Financial investigations by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) revealed that the arrested network moved roughly 5.3 billion Turkish lira through 414,621 separate bank and crypto accounts. The analysis showed organized money‑laundering tactics, including the use of numerous short‑term accounts to obscure the flow of funds. While many suspects denied involvement, officials said the operation exposed a large‑scale gambling infrastructure linked to organized crime.