The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced in recent hours the arrest of 76 suspects during an operation carried out as part of an investigation into a money laundering ring operating through currency exchange bureaus in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.
According to Turkish media reports, the Istanbul-based investigation revealed that funds from illegal gambling and financial fraud were laundered through bureaux de change located in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı, in Turkish).
The operation, the fourth in recent months to target businesses involved in money laundering in the historic market, involved suspects across 10 provinces in Turkey and led to the seizure of assets worth 335 million Turkish liras (about 6.8 million euros), including a total of 31 vehicles and 74 properties. The 76 detainees include managers of companies such as Hotto Yazılım Ticaret AŞ and Coinvest Liz Bilişim AŞ, allegedly involved in the money laundering process.
The network laundered money from gambling, scams and frauds
According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, profits from illicit gambling, foreign exchange scams and investment fraud were channelled through front companies and individuals. Reports by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and various experts describe the structure set up to launder all this dirty money as a real “professional money laundering network“.
The investigation found that bank accounts of companies and individuals were used to transfer money through bureaux de change, electronic payment institutions, banks and cryptocurrency providers. In this way, proceeds generated from illegal gambling, cyber fraud and bogus investments were fed into the financial system under the guise of ‘legal funds’.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office points out that three more operations related to black money laundering through bureaux de change in the historic Grand Bazaar have previously been carried out. In a statement, the prosecutor’s office stressed that “with this fourth operation, the fight against money laundering, illegal gambling and investment fraud continues with determination”.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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