12th Judicial Package to Include IBAN Regulation with Planned Reduction in Penalties

The 12th Judicial Package proposal in the Turkish Parliament's Justice Commission has been amended to include a provision related to IBAN victims. According to this, individuals who allow others to use their IBAN for unjust gain but are themselves victims of fraud may receive a reduction of up to half in their penalties. An additional paragraph is to be added to Article 158 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) concerning qualified fraud. If the participation in fraud or qualified fraud is limited to the act of providing information or tools necessary for the use of a bank account or payment instrument belonging to oneself or another, the penalty to be imposed shall be reduced by half. Transitional provisions have also been introduced in the proposal. Accordingly, for suspects whose files are under appeal and for whom the newly added paragraph applies, the files at the regional courts of justice shall be reversed and sent back to the first-instance courts.