Turkish authorities on Monday arrested numerous suspects, including Erkan Kork, the chairperson of BankPozitif and digital payments provider PayFix, as part of a major operation targeting illegal online betting.
Kork faces accusations of laundering funds from illegal gambling activities and facilitating unauthorized transactions. The operation led to the detention of 52 individuals in Istanbul, with 21 formally taken into custody, including Kork.
Authorities have also seized Kork's affiliated businesses, including BankPozitif, PayFix, and the local media outlet Flash TV. BankPozitif, which does not accept deposits, was acquired by PayFix from Israel's Bank Hapoalim in 2023.
BankPozitif's management has been transferred to Türkiye's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) said separately on Monday.
PayFix and Flash TV were also seized by the state. As part of the operation, authorities confiscated assets valued at TL 6.9 billion ($190 million).
The crackdown is part of Türkiye's broader efforts to strengthen oversight of digital payments amid rising concerns about the prevalence of illegal gambling.
The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (Masak) discovered that nearly 50 million betting-related transactions, amounting to TL 4 billion, were processed through PayFix accounts and directed to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Prosecutors allege that Kork incorporated these gambling operations into PayFix's systems.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) announced it had suspended all operational licenses by PayFix, as well as two other payment companies, Ininal and Aypara, which have also been under investigation by judicial authorities.
Türkiye enforces strict regulations on gambling, having banned both casinos and online gambling in past decades. However, illegal gambling remains persistent, particularly in professional football, despite the existence of state-run lotteries and authorized betting services.
