Istanbul Prosecutors Arrest Four Over Live-Betting Delay Scheme Said to Cost TL12 Million

^{The case is being run from the Istanbul Courthouse at Çağlayan, where eight suspects gave statements to prosecutors. (Photo: Jelican9 / Wikimedia Commons)}

Four suspects have been arrested in Istanbul in an investigation into claims that a live-betting data feed was delayed by seven seconds so that accomplices could bet after scores changed. Prosecutors say licensed bookmakers lost a total of TL12 million, according to a report by Cumhuriyet citing the state news agency Anadolu Agency on 27 October 2026.

The case adds to a run of enforcement news from Turkey, which we covered when Turkish authorities seized $365 million in an illegal betting crackdown.

How the Alleged Scheme Worked

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, through its Illegal Betting and Sports Crimes Bureau, is leading the inquiry, with the Istanbul Police Cybercrime Branch. Investigators determined that a firm called Spordata supplied data and infrastructure for sports events to legal betting sites.

A data analyst at the firm, identified only by the initials O.B., is alleged to have opened live betting on matches seven seconds late, mainly in tennis and volleyball. According to the prosecutor's statement as reported, he had people open accounts at betting companies and place bets once the score had changed.

Prosecutors say that method cost Spordata and the betting companies it served a combined TL12 million. The report describes the delay as the mechanism behind the losses, and the allegations have yet to be tested in court.

Money Flows Under Review

The analyst was detained and arrested at an earlier stage of the inquiry. Turkey's financial crimes investigation board, MASAK, then examined his finances. According to the report, its findings showed total inflows and outflows of TL192 million across his accounts, including high-value transfers.

Prosecutors allege the analyst opened live betting seven seconds late, letting accomplices bet after the score had already changed.

Following that review, eight further suspects believed to have worked with him were detained and taken to the Istanbul Courthouse at Çağlayan. After giving statements to prosecutors, they were brought before a criminal judgeship of peace.

Arrests and Judicial Control

The court ordered four of the eight suspects arrested. The other four were placed under judicial control, a supervision measure that falls short of detention. The names of the suspects appear in the Turkish report, but because no one has been convicted we have not repeated them here.

The report does not say how the TL192 million in account movements relates to the TL12 million in alleged losses, and prosecutors have not published a breakdown. Turkish media had reported the detention of the eight further suspects on 24 October 2026, three days before the arrests were confirmed.

The case turns on the data layer that sits between sports events and sportsbooks. Operators rely on timely score feeds to open and suspend live markets, so a deliberate delay at the supplier end can create a gap that informed bettors exploit.

Sports betting integrity has been a recurring theme in Turkey's enforcement activity. What to watch next is whether prosecutors file formal charges, and whether other data providers face questions over their feed controls. The original report is available on Cumhuriyet (in Turkish).