Turkey detained 16 people and seized assets worth about 300 million lira ($6.9 million) on Friday in an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to content shared on the OnlyFans platform, prosecutors said.
OnlyFans has been blocked in Turkey since June 7, 2023 © Mena Today
Turkey detained 16 people and seized assets worth about 300 million lira ($6.9 million) on Friday in an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to content shared on the OnlyFans platform, prosecutors said.
The probe, led by a department investigating terrorism financing and money laundering crimes, targeted 25 suspects and two companies in operations across eight provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, the Istanbul chief public prosecutor’s office said.
Prosecutors said suspects generated income by sharing explicit content on social media and directing users to paid platforms, including OnlyFans and private messaging channels such as Telegram.
OnlyFans has been blocked in Turkey since June 7, 2023, by a ruling of an Istanbul court on the grounds that it hosted content deemed contrary to public morality and family values.
Despite the ban, suspects were found to have accessed the platform via virtual private networks (VPNs), prosecutors said.
According to the statement, the suspects laundered proceeds through the purchase of assets, as well as investments in bitcoin and gold.
Authorities identified 10 properties, 14 vehicles and two companies linked to the suspects. The total value of the assets was estimated at around 300 million lira.
The prosecutor's office said the investigation was ongoing.
Writing by Ece Toksabay
U.S. President Donald Trump will attend the NATO meeting of heads of state that is taking place in Turkey in early July, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday, providing a confirmation that will likely lead to a sigh of relief across the capitals of the alliance.
U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledged having called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crazy in an expletive-filled phone exchange over fighting in Lebanon while the U.S. was trying to negotiate an end to hostilities with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed not to have a nuclear weapon and that he would probably meet with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei at some point if things "work out"
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.