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Turkish authorities arrested 41 suspects and dismantled a sophisticated fraud network that defrauded 537 people of ₺984 million ($23.6 million) through shell companies promising high returns, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Monday via social media.
The arrests followed coordinated operations across 18 provinces, centered in Tekirdag, with raids conducted in Istanbul, Gaziantep, Hatay, Manisa, Adana, Antalya, Diyarbakir, Karaman, Mersin, Kirklareli, Osmaniye, Sakarya, Aydın, Yalova, Izmir, Kocaeli, and Mugla.
Of the 46 suspects detained in the raids, 41 were arrested while five were placed under judicial control measures. Authorities discovered the criminal network had processed ₺5 billion ($120.3 million) through their bank accounts.
"The suspects established shell companies promising high profits to defraud our citizens, with ₺5 billion in transaction volume detected in their bank accounts," Yerlikaya stated.
"The network that defrauded 537 of our citizens of ₺984 million has been dismantled," he added.
The interior minister commended the law enforcement agencies involved in the operation, specifically thanking the provincial governors, chief public prosecutors, the General Directorate of Security's Public Order Department, the Tekirdag Provincial Police Director, the Public Order Branch Directorate, and police officers.
"There is no passage for fraudsters who target our people's hard-earned money. We continue our fight without interruption," Yerlikaya declared.
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