Investment fraud operation in 39 provinces! 159 suspects in custody

According to the statement made by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was stated that the total loss of 23 victims was 51 million 407 thousand 966 liras in the investigation carried out regarding the crime of "qualified fraud" carried out using shell companies and personal accounts. It was determined that the suspects had the fake investment application installed on their mobile phones through the links they sent to the victims, whom they contacted via the same GSM numbers.

It was determined that the suspects, who created the impression that they were making money by making the money sent by the victims to their common IBAN numbers higher than they were in the fake application, committed fraud by acting in unity of thought and action.

In the analysis of the data obtained from the Revenue Administration, it was determined that 3 billion 204 million 348 thousand 699 liras of the money traffic between the bank accounts of the suspects consisted of money transfers, 3 billion 451 million 682 thousand 830 liras consisted of EFT transactions, and the total transaction volume was 6 billion 656 million 31 thousand 529 liras.

"BANK AND CRYPTO ACCOUNTS WERE SEIZED"

Within the scope of the investigation, simultaneous operations were carried out in 39 provinces against the suspects who were found to have transferred the amounts obtained from fraudulent acts to jewelers, bank accounts, crypto assets and cold wallet addresses, and 159 suspects were detained.

The bank and crypto accounts of the suspects who participated in the action were seized. It was determined that 23 people, for whom detention orders were issued, were in prison and 52 people were fugitives. Efforts are continuing to capture the fugitive suspects.

The investigations carried out by 5 experts and expert witnesses appointed by the Tax Office are continuing in order to audit the compliance and accuracy of invoiced and non-invoiced gold sales, actual stocks and inventories, POS device and bank account movements and tax bases of the 5 jewelery companies identified in the investigation.

STATEMENT FROM MINISTER GÜRLEK

Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, in his statement on his social media account, said, "Under the leadership of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we are fighting determinedly against criminal organizations and fraud networks that target the sweat and savings of our citizens. In the investment fraud investigation carried out by our Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office together with our Ankara Provincial Police Department, the suspects had money traffic exceeding 6 billion 656 million TL and 23 of our citizens had a total of 51 million 407 thousand TL." It was determined that 966 TL was lost. Within the scope of the investigation, a simultaneous operation was carried out in 39 provinces against 215 suspects who were determined to have transferred the proceeds of crime through bank accounts, jewelers, crypto asset accounts and cold wallets. 159 suspects were detained in the operation. The investigation regarding the gold sales, stocks and inventories, POS devices, bank movements and tax records of 5 jewelery companies continues. "I would like to thank our Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and Ankara Provincial Police Department for carrying out the investigation. No hand reaching out to our nation's rights, labor and savings will go unrewarded," he said.