The Central Bank has suspended the operating permits of PayFix, Aypara, and İninal, which are mentioned in the illegal betting investigation. Erkan Kork, who was arrested as part of the investigation and had his assets seized by the bank, claimed in his statement that he acquired Bankpozitif by exchanging “gold and jewelry.”

Erkan Kork, who was arrested on charges of forming an organization and money laundering in the illegal betting investigation, had his statement to the prosecution revealed. “REPORTING BETTING ESTABLISHMENTS” In his statement, Kork stated, “PayFix company has no affiliation with illegal betting sites. On the contrary, we report illegal betting similar establishments to MASAK as a company. I did not conduct betting through my companies, did not facilitate betting, did not launder money obtained from illegal betting, and did not establish any criminal organization.”

FINDINGS DEEMED UNFOUNDED, CALLED IT A “SCENARIO” Erkan Kork mentioned in his statement to the prosecution, “All the situations mentioned to have been identified are baseless. I have never added my personal email address as a recovery email, except for company emails. I believe this is a fabrication against me. I did not register for membership on illegal betting sites using a mail account. This is a scenario constructed to discredit me.”

CLAIMED THE SECRET WITNESS OWED HIM Erkan Kork, who denied the statements of the secret witness Cesur included in the file, stated, “This person received 1.5 million lira from me in 2022 for business development activities for my company, and I have promissory notes from him because he did not fulfill the promised tasks. This person bearing a grudge against me due to the promissory note he holds, believes that if the note is executed and collected or he receives an insolvency certificate, he might lose his profession as a lawyer, hence why he made unfounded allegations against me.”

EXCHANGED GOLD AND JEWELRY TO ACQUIRE A BANK Speaking of MASAK’s report in his statement, Kork argued that the said report included cumulative data and the figures related to the company were in line with the flow of life. Kork stated, “The money transfers in question involved the invoiced conversion of the gold and jewelry items I had during the bank acquisition period and their deposit into my account. The reason for making fragmented transfers is that I had to conduct the transactions in parts due to currency-protected deposit limits. The money transfers I made are in compliance with the legislation.”

Kork claimed that the bank acquisition process was carried out after approvals and permissions from MASAK, BDDK, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Interior, Central Bank, and the result of an MIT investigation. “CLOSING 1,500 ACCOUNTS DAILY” Continuing his statement, Kork indicated that they had established special units in the company to combat illegal activities and claimed, “We close between a thousand and fifteen hundred accounts daily in the fight against illegal betting. This is a clear indication of our fight against illegal betting.” Kork claimed that he did not conduct betting through the mentioned companies, did not facilitate betting, did not launder money obtained from illegal betting, and did not establish any criminal organization. 3 PAYMENT INSTITUTIONS BANNED Action was taken against the three payment institutions mentioned in the illegal betting investigation. In a statement from the Central Bank, it was mentioned that the operating permits for PayFix, Aypara, and İninal were all suspended. The notification stated, “In the processes leading to the suspension of the operating permits of Pay Fix, Aypara, and İninal under Law No. 6493, administrative and financial measures were taken against Pay Fix within the scope of Article 21, paragraph eight of Law No. 6493 by the decision of the Central Bank dated 30 September 2024 and numbered 11724/21323. Additionally, as a result of the assessments made within the context of the investigation, by the decision of the Central Bank dated 14 March 2025 and numbered 11811/21410, all operating permits of PayFix, Aypara, and İninal were suspended.” HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATION In the investigation, 21 people, including Erkan Kork, the owner of Bankpozitif, PayFix, and Flash TV, were arrested. While raids were carried out against 59 suspects in the operation, assets worth 6.9 billion TL were seized. Bankpozitif, Flash TV, and PayFix came under state control. ESTABLISHED PAYFIX WITH BETTING INCOME According to the public prosecutor’s investigation, Erkan Kork entered the finance sector with the Troyin Informatics company in 2014. He established the payment institution named PayFix with income from illegal betting. Through PayFix’s financial infrastructure, the money of illegal betting barons was laundered. MASAK and Central Bank reports identified 80,011 different sets of money transfers in the PayFix system, where a total of 211,109 accounts were used. It was reflected in the reports that 855 of these accounts were linked to illegal betting activities.