A major cross-border illegal gambling and financial network processing an estimated $3bn in monthly turnover has been dismantled following a large-scale investigation led by Turkish authorities, according to reports. However, it seems that this is a broader development in an already cracked case involving Paymix.
The core of the system operating across the Malta, Bulgaria, Northern Cyprus and Dubai route has reportedly been breached. A large archive seized from a server backbone in Bulgaria is said to have revealed the personal and banking information of 13.8 million Turkish individuals.
Burak Başel, described in some reports as Cyprus’s “Award-Winning Entrepreneur,” is wanted as the primary suspect in a criminal network accused of selling the data of millions of citizens to illegal gambling operators.
The 80-terabyte “black box” recovered from the Telepoint data centre in Bulgaria and decrypted by gendarmerie units is said to have exposed a $3bn monthly cryptocurrency, offshore and collusive e-commerce money laundering scheme allegedly run by Başel.
He is also alleged to have managed betting data and live betting streaming platforms covering thousands of matches worldwide, from Africa to South America.
It is further reported that 49 major betting sites that collapsed in Turkey were powered by the technical infrastructure he allegedly provided.
Turkish prosecutors and cybercrime units have concluded that the financial network operated through the Paymix channel in Malta was directly at the centre of this wider illegal ecosystem.
Meanwhile, local media reports that, in an operation centred in Adana and spanning 21 provinces, authorities arrested 135 people in connection with offences including illegal gambling, aggravated fraud, bribery and money laundering.
MASAK analyses and financial investigations conducted as part of the case reportedly uncovered approximately TL 100bn ($2.19bn) and $2bn in suspicious money laundering activity.
Investigators assessed the organisation as a professional financial crime network operating on both a national and international scale.
Turkey is set to overhaul its gambling laws, with regulations introducing prison sentences for players involved in illegal gambling being drafted.
At the same time, illegal gambling court cases are being sped up as part of a wider enforcement effort.
Authorities are also planning fines for around 3.1 million players identified in illegal betting sweeps, ranging from TL 100,000 to TL 400,000. The number of affected players might even increase with the latest enforcement actions.
At a recent meeting with Members of Parliament from the Black Sea region in Ankara’s Hakimevi building, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said young people and children are increasingly exposed to drugs and online gambling
