Turkish prosecutors charge that a global investment fraud network operating from Turkey was managed by Israeli citizens and led to the arrest of nine Israeli nationals.
Jpost
Istanbul prosecutors said on Friday that Israeli citizens managed an international investment fraud network operating from Turkey that defrauded victims around the world of more than $3 billion, according to a statement by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The operation, which was led by Turkey’s Interior Ministry and National Intelligence Organization in coordination with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Istanbul Security Directorate’s cybercrime unit, and Interpol, ended with the arrest of nine Israeli nationals.
According to statements from the Turkish Justice Ministry, the investigation found that the operation was a large organization rather than the activity of just a few individual companies. Prosecutors charge that the organization was ‘managed by Israeli citizens’ and referred to its leaders as ‘Israeli fraud barons.’ Prosecutors said the Israelis appointed managers in various countries, who established companies and service centers used to operate the alleged fraud network.
Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said earlier that the investigation was part of four criminal cases opened by Istanbul prosecutors this year. According to Gurlek, an examination of company ownership structures and ultimate beneficiaries showed a dominance of entities with ‘links to Israel.’
The investigation also included Turkey’s intelligence agency MIT, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board MASAK, Istanbul Police, and Interpol.
According to prosecutors, the network operated companies in Turkey that were presented as service, consulting, and tourism centers. Through advertisements on social media, search engines, and websites, the network promised potential investors high returns from foreign exchange and cryptocurrency investments. Details of people interested in investing were transferred to customer management systems and then to representatives who spoke their languages and persuaded them to transfer funds.
Nine Israelis arrested in Turkish Interpol operations
Prosecutors described a highly secretive operation in which employees recruited by the network were given code names and a fabricated ‘life story,’ sometimes even claiming they had studied at prestigious universities such as Oxford.
Before beginning work, employees underwent polygraph tests intended to determine whether they had ties to law enforcement authorities.
In addition, workers were prohibited from bringing phones into offices and were forbidden from speaking Hebrew while inside the offices.
According to prosecutors, the operation used, among others, the names of platforms Inefex, Quantum AI, Algo Education and Exentral-Int. When complaints accumulated against a particular platform, the suspects would then move to operate under a different name.
Victims were initially asked to transfer small sums of money and were later persuaded to invest larger amounts. Prosecutors charge that the suspects controlled the data presented to investors and could create the appearance of profits in order to encourage additional transfers.
When investors requested to withdraw their money, they were told that their accounts had been ‘blocked’ and that they needed to ‘transfer additional funds to pay taxes in order to remove the restrictions’.
Investigators charge that the money was not actually invested, but instead transferred to personal bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the network.
The Israeli connection featured prominently in the prosecutors’ statement.
According to findings by MIT, the Turkish intelligence agency, cited in the statement, after Israel banned binary options activity in 2017, the Israeli figures managing the operation sought to move the activity to other countries.
Prosecutors charge that the Israeli fraudsters explicitly instructed their employees not to target fellow Israeli citizens.