Turkey: 37 Suspects Referred to Court in Aydın Illegal Betting Investigation

^{A view of Aydın in western Turkey, where the investigation is based. (Photo: Zeynel Cebeci / Wikimedia Commons)}

Thirty-seven people detained in an illegal betting investigation centred on the Turkish city of Aydın have been referred to court, local media reported on 6 November. Three other suspects are still being sought. No one has been convicted.

The inquiry is being coordinated by the Aydın Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, with the cybercrime unit of the Aydın provincial gendarmerie carrying out the investigative work.

The Operation

Officers carried out simultaneous raids on 3 November at 40 addresses across 14 provinces, with Aydın as the hub. Reports named the other provinces as Adana, Niğde, Antalya, Diyarbakır, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Çorum, Kayseri, Ankara, Mersin, Bursa and Balıkesir. Of the 40 suspects, 35 are men and five are women, according to local reports.

Thirty-seven were detained. After completing procedures with the gendarmerie, they were taken to court on the morning of 6 November. Efforts to find the three remaining suspects, who are described as fugitives, are continuing.

Money Flows

Investigators examined the bank accounts of the 40 suspects and found a combined transaction volume of TL3.484bn. Turkey's Financial Crimes Investigation Board, MASAK, identified the transactions.

Authorities also placed interim restrictions on 467 bank accounts, four crypto-asset accounts and four cars that investigators believe were connected to the alleged offences or bought with the proceeds. Phones, SIM cards, laptops, USB drives and hard disks were seized in the searches and are being examined. Reports give differing counts of the devices recovered.

The inquiry has so far produced restrictions on 467 bank accounts, four crypto accounts and four cars.

MASAK is Turkey's financial intelligence unit, and its figure refers to the total value of money passing through the accounts rather than to profits. The prosecutor's office has not published a breakdown of how the sum was generated, or how much of it relates to betting stakes as opposed to payouts and transfers between accounts.

Freezing accounts at this stage is a precautionary step. Under Turkish procedure the court now decides whether each suspect is held in custody or released under judicial control while the prosecutor prepares an indictment. The suspects have not been convicted, and several of the raided provinces are far from Aydın, which points to a network operating across the country rather than a single local operation.

Part of a Wider Crackdown

The case adds to a steady run of enforcement action in Turkey, where only state-licensed betting is permitted and offshore sites are blocked. Last month, prosecutors in Istanbul moved forward with a case involving eight suspects accused of manipulating live betting systems, with losses of around TL12m to licensed bookmakers.

Earlier this year, authorities also seized $365m in an illegal betting crackdown, one of the largest actions of its kind. The Aydın case follows the same pattern: bank account freezes, crypto account restrictions and digital forensics alongside the arrests.

The next step is for the court to decide whether the 37 suspects remain in custody pending trial. The prosecutor's office has not announced formal charges, and no trial date has been set.