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A secret witness has accused Papara, one of Türkiye’s largest licensed electronic payment companies, of being at the center of what they described as "the country’s largest money-laundering scheme."
The scheme is linked to illegal online betting that allegedly involves around 40 million Turkish citizens, according to the case indictment.
The allegations form part of a sweeping investigation completed by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which seeks prison sentences of up to 28 years for Papara’s founder, Ahmet Faruk Karsli and four other executives.
Prosecutors argue that the company’s operations facilitated large-scale money transfers for criminal betting organizations under the guise of legal financial transactions.
Founded in 2015, Papara is one of Türkiye’s most prominent fintech companies, licensed by the Central Bank to provide electronic money and payment services.
The platform offers users instant money transfers, prepaid cards, bill payments, and digital wallets, and has expanded its reach to millions of users both domestically and abroad through acquisitions such as Spain’s Rebellion Pay and Pakistan’s SadaPay.
Following an investigation into alleged illegal betting and money laundering, Papara’s founder, Ahmet Faruk Karsli, and several executives were arrested in May, and the firm was placed under the trusteeship of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF).
The indictment, supported by a Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) audit report, found that between 2021 and 2023, more than 26,000 Papara accounts were used on 102 illegal betting platforms, collectively handling around ₺12 billion (approximately $286.83 million) in suspicious transactions.
Authorities said that these funds were channeled from Papara accounts into 274 domestic bank accounts before being transferred to five cryptocurrency wallets linked to the betting networks.
Prosecutors alleged that Papara acted as a financial intermediary in cooperation with figures known as "betting barons."
In testimony included in the indictment, a witness explained that illegal betting sites rely on payment platforms that collect deposits from players and remit them to site operators for a 4%–15% commission.
"This ecosystem cannot operate without local payment intermediaries," the witness said, naming Papara as the most prominent platform in this chain.
They alleged that although some of these payment companies hold official licenses from the Central Bank and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, they still "carry funds for illegal betting networks," they said, Turkish news outlet milliyet.com.tr reported.
The witness further claimed that, among the 40 million people drawn into the underground betting system—either directly or indirectly—the personal data of around 30 million users, including ID numbers, bank details, and passwords, had been leaked to networks based in Armenia and the United Kingdom.
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Another witness accused Papara of laundering the largest volume of funds in Türkiye’s financial history, alleging an annual turnover of ₺50 billion ($1.19 billion) through illegal betting channels.
The witness also claimed that a former Cyber Crimes Department officer, who had long investigated illegal betting cases, later joined Papara as a senior public relations executive and used his prior position to bolster the company’s standing in the market.
Prosecutors argued that, under Karsli’s direction, Papara established a corporate structure "integrated with illegal betting operations," using its technical and financial systems to circulate betting proceeds through the formal economy.
The indictment further stated that the company maintained "a covert cooperation" with major betting organizers, enabling them to disguise profits from unlawful gambling activities.
If accepted by the court, the indictment would send Papara’s top management and other suspects to trial on charges of establishing a criminal organization, money laundering, and violating Türkiye’s betting laws.
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