After investigations uncovered that organized gangs were laundering money via banks, cryptocurrency, and payment platforms, authorities in Turkey intercepted illegal betting of about $114 million in 2025.
MASAK, operating under the Treasury and Finance Ministry, declared that its investigative efforts target not only the criminals making illicit profits but also the channels through which the profits are being moved. They identified the support of organized crime transaction facilitation activities and hence the assets were frozen or restricted.
The inquiry exposed that there were multiple instances of secret funds being transferred through crypto and foreign currencies which the anti-money laundering measures prevented.
Licenses canceled, crypto platform taken over
Following the operation, the Central Bank of Turkey withdrew the operating licenses of six payment and electronic money institutions after the Police proved that these institutions had knowingly allowed illegal betting proceeds to be laundered into the financial system on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, the courts have frozen the assets of a crypto service provider and have issued a further seizure order against a crypto platform suspected of facilitating illegal betting transactions.
MASAK’s investigation has revealed that illegal betting networks, in order to make collections, have been forced to utilize payment systems which are disguised as legitimate financial services, most often through virtual POS setups. Subsequently, the authorities have intensified the supervision of these systems and have introduced new restrictions on crypto transfers, particularly stablecoins, as a measure to curb illicit money flows.
Moreover, the regulators have closed the loophole associated with simplified customer verification by imposing higher compliance standards on payment firms, electronic money institutions, and crypto service providers. Several bank accounts that were linked to illegal betting and money laundering activities were frozen by the investigators.
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has cautioned individuals against sharing their financial accounts with others to stop the illegal betting networks that are increasing in number. He said that these networks are increasingly using third-party bank accounts, payments, e-money, and crypto for their transactions.
Simsek said:
Illegal betting organizers have recently begun using bank, payment, electronic money, and crypto asset accounts belonging to third parties.
Moreover, he stated that the use of accounts through schemes like “temporary use” or “entrustment,” as well as “commission-based access,” could be an exposure to participation in illegal betting and money laundering.
Furthermore, Simsek explained that some groups after receiving authorization from certain persons to open limited companies then used those companies’ accounts for collecting the illegal proceeds.
He added:
It is important that citizens do not allow companies established in their name to be used by people they do not actually know.
Officials have confirmed that operations will be continuously conducted along with financial regulators and law enforcement to prevent illegal betting funds from entering the Turkish financial system.
