In Turkey, 32 people were arrested in the case of an alleged criminal organization, and another six were put under house arrest. In total, 38 suspects were arrested in the case. Alihan Qurish, the alleged leader of the organization, is also among those arrested, TRT Haber reports.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers found 200 kg of gold ingots, the origin of which has not yet been determined, in one of the houses where a search was carried out for the wanted Hilmi Tuna Qurish, the brother of Alihan Qurish.
The investigation is also looking into the financial operations of companies linked to the suspects. According to a preliminary report by the Financial Crimes Investigation Agency of Turkey (MASAK), the bank turnover of one of the companies exceeded 66.2 billion Turkish lira in 2017-2026, including more than 26.2 billion lira in cash.
Another company, whose capital exceeded 1.35 billion liras, had almost no banking operations and commercial activity. MASAK described this situation as "extremely remarkable".
The investigation also revealed large international transfers. In particular, almost 8 billion liras were transferred from one of the companies to Saudi Arabia and UAE. Money was also transferred to a number of other countries, including Israel, USA, Great Britain and Germany.
MASAK found cases when millions of dollars received from abroad were cashed out or transferred to other companies after a short time. The report also mentions large cash receipts, the source of which requires additional clarification.
The investigation revealed close financial ties between several companies, foundations and organizations related to the figures in the case. MASAK has come to the conclusion that the operations, the origin of which raises doubts, could have been carried out within the framework of organized activities.
The investigation is ongoing.
