The Central Bank has suspended the operating licenses of PayFix, Aypara, and Ininal, which were mentioned in the illegal betting investigation. Erkan Kork, who was arrested in the investigation and had his bank confiscated, claimed in his statement that he acquired Bankpozitif by selling “gold and jewelry.”

Erkan Kork, who was arrested on charges of forming an organization and money laundering in the illegal betting investigation, gave his statement to the prosecutor. He stated, “We inform MASAK about betting formations,” stressing that “PayFix has no relationship with illegal betting sites. On the contrary, as a company, we report illegal betting-like formations to MASAK. I did not conduct betting through my companies, did not facilitate betting, did not launder money obtained from illegal betting, and did not form any crime syndicate,” he said.

He dismissed the allegations as unfounded and labeled them as a “scenario.” Kork stated, “All the situations stated to have been identified are baseless. I have never added my personal email address as a recovery email outside of company emails. I believe this is a fabrication made against me. I did not open membership records for illegal betting sites using the email account. This is a scenario designed to discredit me,” he claimed.

Refuting the statements of the secret witness Cesur mentioned in the file, Kork claimed that the individual owed money to his company in order to conduct business development activities in 2022 and that due to his failure to fulfill promised tasks, he had taken promissory notes from him.

Kork also talked about MASAK’s report in his statement, saying that the reported figures were in line with the company’s normal operations. He explained, “The mentioned money transfers involve the invoiced sale of gold and jewelry items that were present during the bank acquisition period and deposited into my account. The reason for conducting transfers in parts is due to being stuck in exchange rate-protected deposit limits and having to perform fragmented transactions. The money transfers I made are compliant with regulations,” he emphasized.

He claimed that the bank acquisition process was carried out with the approval and permission of MASAK, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA), Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Ministry of Interior, Central Bank, as well as the result of an MIT investigation.

Continuing his statement, Kork stated that they had established special units within the company to combat illegal activities, asserting that they close between one thousand and one thousand five hundred accounts daily in the fight against illegal betting, which is a clear indication of their efforts.

He maintained that he did not facilitate betting through the mentioned companies, did not facilitate betting activities, did not launder money obtained from illegal betting, and did not form any crime syndicate.

BAN ON 3 PAYMENT INSTITUTIONS

Actions have been taken against three payment institutions mentioned in the illegal betting investigation. In a statement from the Central Bank, it was announced that the operating licenses of PayFix, Aypara, and Ininal have all been suspended.

In the announcement, it was stated that the process leading to the suspension of the operating licenses of PayFix, Aypara, and Ininal under Law No. 6493 was determined on September 30, 2024, with Decision No. 11724/21323 of the Central Bank. Additionally, following evaluations made within the scope of the investigation, it was stated that with Decision No. 11811/21410 dated March 14, 2025, all operating licenses of PayFix, Aypara, and Ininal under Law No. 6493 were suspended.

INVESTIGATION HISTORY

In the course of the investigation, 21 people including Erkan Kork, the owner of Bankpozitif, PayFix, and Flash TV, were arrested. With raids on 59 suspects, assets worth 6 billion 900 million TL were seized. Bankpozitif, Flash TV, and PayFix were placed under state control.

ESTABLISHED PAYFIX WITH BETTING REVENUE

According to the prosecution investigation, Erkan Kork entered the finance sector in 2014 with the Troyin Informatics company. He founded the payment institution named PayFix with illegal betting revenues. The financial infrastructure of PayFix was used to launder the funds of illegal betting barons. MASAK and Central Bank reports identified 80,011 different money transfer clusters in the PayFix system, with a total of 211,109 accounts used in these transactions. Reports showed that 855 of these accounts were linked to illegal betting transactions.