68 Suspects Detained in Illegal Betting and Gambling Operation

In Istanbul, teams from the Istanbul Police Department's Cybercrime Unit took action against those who tried to cover up the income from illegal betting and gambling activities, detaining 68 suspects.The police teams acted in coordination with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and based on a report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board. They found that high amounts of money transferred through electronic payment institutions were passed on to different bank accounts and a large portion of it was transferred to cryptocurrency service providers. They also discovered that the explanations for these money transfers included phrases related to illegal betting and gambling activities. After examining banking transaction records, it was revealed that a total of 100,025 transactions were made, with a volume of 76 billion 284 million 877 thousand 311 lira, and some of these transactions were transferred to cryptocurrency service providers.Further investigation showed that a large portion of the money transferred to cryptocurrencies was converted to USDT (a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar) and transferred to external wallets, in an attempt to cover up the money's trail. It was determined that the financial activity was sourced from illegal betting income. The teams identified the suspects' identities and addresses and conducted a simultaneous operation to apprehend them. In the operation, 68 suspects were detained and taken to the police station for processing.