Thirteen casinos targeted in Cyprus money laundering probe

Lawmakers from Turkey have launched an investigation into 13 casinos based in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a part of a wider investigation into alleged money laundering and illegal betting.

northerncyprus

Prosecutors in the southern city of Gaziantep have ordered the confiscation of over $100m in funds linked to suspected money launderers following an earlier investigation by the Board of Investigation on Financial Crimes which revealed that a number of casinos were involved in the transfer of large amounts of foreign currency.

Digging deeper, the board found that the transactions were made through the accounts of seven casino managers and also through staff accounts at 20 companies owned by the casinos themselves.

Early reports say that as much as $5bn in transfers abroad are being investigated by authorities, with suspects allegedly holding multiple accounts in seven banks based in Turkey, including one Bank Asya, which reportedly has links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Bank Asya has been closed down by Turkish authorities pending a full investigation into these links.

In 2017, the Turkish government implemented a law which would allow revenues from illegal betting gangs to be seized and bank accounts to be more tightly monitored, but large scale illegal betting and money laundering still takes place.

The  authorities have increased their cooperation with Turkey’s banks in order to better clampdown on this trend and last month police detained 11 suspected members of an illegal betting gang operating in Gaziantep.

Premium+ Connections
Premium

Galaxsys

 
Premium

Sport Generate

 
Premium

GammaStack

 
Premium

RISK

 
Premium

Imagine Live

 
Premium

PIN-UP Partners

 
Premium

Lynon

 
Premium

1xBet Partners

 
Premium

Revsharks

 
 
Premium

Digitain

 
Premium Connections
Consultancy

SCCG Management

Executive Profiles
Zeal Network SE

Stefan Tweraser

VIP Play

Les Ottolenghi

Scientific Games

Keshav Pitani

Social & App

Spribe CEO exclusive: Simplicity is the foundation

Spribe CEO David Natroshvili speaks to Gambling Insider abou...

Redefining iGaming: A history of crash games

Crash games is a growing vertical that has taken gambling by...

A certain something: What makes crash games special?

Crash games. They’re simple, they’re easy to learn and,...

Smarter innovation to shape the future

Spribe CCO Giorgi Tsutskiridze discusses the past, present a...

Facing Facts: The corner of quarterly contemplation

With Q1 reports out across the industry, Gambling Insider co...

Taking Stock: A guide to key stock prices across the industry

Gambling Insider tracks prices from some of the industry’s...

15 years of Gambling Insider: From the Founders

Over the last 15 years, Gambling Insider magazine has interv...

15 years of Gambling Insider: The Awards over time

Global Gaming Awards Event Manager Mariya Savova gives us he...