11 suspects arrested in Papara 'illegal betting' investigation

An investigation has been launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime," "being a member of an established organization," "laundering assets originating from crime," and "violating the Law on the Organization of Betting and Games of Chance in Football and Other Sports Competitions," alleging that Papara Elektronik Para AŞ. has been facilitating illegal betting money traffic and that illegal betting organizations have been transferring money through Papara.

The procedures of the 15 suspects who were detained within the scope of the investigation were completed at the criminal court of peace.

The judgeship decided to arrest the suspects Ahmed Faruk Karslı, Dilek Gezer, Kadir Can Köse, Sadık Yıldırım, Cengiz Sevim, İlker Diker, Murat Arslan, Cenab Doğru, Funda Fırat Demirci, Volkan Nazmi Metin and Ziya Uçar.

Suspects Taylan Özgür Kiraz, Nergis Çetinkaya, Mustafa Yücetepe and Gökhan Haznedaroğlu were released on condition of judicial control.

In a statement regarding the investigation from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that the owner of Papara Elektronik Para AŞ, Ahmed Faruk Karslı, had received a permit to operate as an electronic money institution since 2016, that the company's accounts were able to collect fees at each transfer stage related to crypto exchanges and illegal betting, and that the subsequent examination of these accounts did not disrupt the betting transactions and enabled the company to earn income from the transactions in question.

The statement stated that according to reports received from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, MASAK and other institutions, Papara was used systematically and intensively in the commission of illegal betting crimes, and that the company facilitated the commission of this crime and the transfer of money in the commission of the crime.

In the statement, it was stated that 102 of the 26,012 accounts opened through Papara systems were used on different illegal betting and gambling sites in the analysis studies, and that the illegal financial volume obtained from these accounts was high, and that the amount in question was transferred to 274 different bank accounts through the platform, and that the proceeds of crime were subsequently attempted to be laundered by directing them to 16 different crypto wallet addresses.

The statement included the following statement: "It has been understood that the 5 identified crypto wallet account owners are collaborating with the leaders of illegal betting organizations and that the payment institution named Papara is in a covert agreement process with illegal betting organizations."

In the statement, it was reported that Papara Elektronik Para AŞ has become an important tool for financing illegal betting and gambling crimes, that the activities of the organization pose a risk of threatening the security of payments, that a measure of seizure was applied to the assets of 8 companies, yachts, 5 boats, 3 safe deposit boxes, 74 vehicles, 7 apartments and villas, especially PPR Holding AŞ, belonging to the organization leader and members, and that TMSF was appointed as a trustee for the companies by the criminal court of peace.