Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek warned that illegal betting rings are now abandoning direct collection schemes in favor of using third-party bank, payment, e-money, and crypto accounts. The goal is to conceal the beneficial owners of the funds.
These schemes, according to the authorities, are usually offered to regular account holders as innocent temporary arrangements, escrow, or commission arrangements. Şimşek’s message was that lending an account can be treated as engaging in illegal betting and money laundering.
MASAK also pointed out a business variation of the same tactic. As investigators say, operators obtained the powers of attorney from individuals and used these to form limited companies. The betting proceeds have been further channeled through accounts opened in the name of these limited companies.
Payment Firms and Crypto Rails Come Under Direct Pressure
MASAK’s 2025 efforts did not solely target the “money mule” accounts. According to Anadolu Agency, the crackdown also targeted the infrastructure that facilitates the rapid and recurring flow of funds, such as payment and electronic money services.
In one of the most specific efforts revealed so far, the operating activities of six payment and e-money institutions were cancelled by Turkey’s central bank, and seizure measures were also applied by the judicial authorities. The stated goal of these measures was to prevent illegal betting money from being channeled through these services.
Crypto is also an active area, and AA reported that seizure action was taken against a cryptocurrency asset service provider. Another seizure decision was made against a crypto platform suspected of being used for obtaining and laundering illegal betting proceeds.
New Compliance Rules Raise the Stakes for High-Risk Sectors
In addition to enforcement, Turkey has been introducing new MASAK compliance obligations that expand transaction verification in higher-risk areas. That particularly applies to online services where identity fraud is prevalent.
Reporting on the changes indicates that MASAK is entering a more proactive “gatekeeper” role regarding financial transactions in these industries from February 2026.
Bottom Line
Turkey is attempting to disrupt the illegal betting economics by cutting off payment options, apart from blocking websites. That means more scrutiny on unusual account activity and quicker reporting to law enforcement agencies. It also poses an operational risk to those institutions that fail to identify the mule-like usage, particularly where there are organized collection patterns.
