14.03.2025 11:50
In the illegal betting investigation based in Istanbul, Erkan Kork, the owner of Pozitifbank, Payfix, and Flash Haber TV, was detained and his assets were seized. It has been revealed that Erkan Kork, whose assets are estimated to be worth 6 billion 900 million lira, had written "Fakir Fukara, Garip Gureba, Cahil Cühela" in his Instagram bio.
In an illegal betting operation in Istanbul, 23 companies, including Pozitifbank, Payfix, and Flash Haber Tv, were seized, and 43 suspects, including Erkan Kork, who is alleged to be the organization leader, were detained. The detail on Kork's Instagram account, who is considered to be the organization leader and whose assets were seized in an operation worth 6 billion 900 million lira, shocked those who saw it.
HE OFFICIALLY PLAYED WITH MONEY It was determined that Erkan Kork, who is alleged to be the organization leader, entered the financial system through a company named 'Troy Bilişim' since 2014 and systematically contacted organizations conducting illegal betting activities within the country. It was found that Kork established a payment institution named 'Payfix' by creating an organizational system with the income obtained from the crime. Thanks to the software developed within 'Payfix', it was determined that the domains referred to as 'panels' by illegal betting barons were integrated into Payfix's financial software system, allowing many foreign-based virtual betting sites to operate in Turkey. Additionally, it was found that they provided money transfer and financial security services to illegal betting sites using Payfix's service infrastructure, created fake 'Payfix' account wallets on behalf of third parties, opened accounts, and laundered illegal betting revenues through these fake accounts.
IT WAS DETERMINED THAT MORE THAN 4 BILLION WAS TRANSFERRED According to the audit reports of MASAK and the Central Bank, 80,011 different money transfer clusters were detected in the 'Payfix' database system. A total of 211,109 accounts belonging to these clusters were identified, and it was reported that 855 account holders were considered risky in terms of illegal betting. Furthermore, it was determined that these clusters showed similarities to the typology of illegal betting, and individuals under analysis transferred 4 billion 223 million 399 thousand 614 lira from their bank accounts to the bank accounts of cryptocurrency service providers. In detailed examinations, it was found that 43,861 Payfix wallet accounts accessed through the IP addresses used in the relevant money transfer transactions received 49 million 671 thousand 178 money transfer transactions between August 21 and October 19, 2023, and these transactions were linked to illegal betting activities. Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that the suspects acted in a trust relationship with each other to manage the payment institution named 'Payfix' and established connections with banks and companies that could directly affect financial life. In this context, it was found that they purchased PozitifBank and laundered the proceeds of crime by establishing or acquiring many commercial companies, including Capital Türk Holding, Ay Para Ödeme Kuruluşu A.Ş., and Ininal Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri A.Ş., thus obtaining unjust profits.
6 BILLION 900 MILLION OPERATION A total of 17 residences, 9 plots, 1 office, 13 vehicles, and the personal accounts and cryptocurrency wallets of the suspects; 23 companies and a total of 114 vehicles belonging to these companies; as well as the partnership shares of the companies, including company cryptocurrency wallets, were seized, with a total financial impact area estimated to be 6 billion 900 million lira.
HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS "POOR AND NEEDY" It was seen that Erkan Kork, who purchased Flash TV at the beginning of 2025, introduced himself in the biography of his Instagram account as "Poor and Needy, Strange and Unfortunate, Ignorant and Uneducated."
WHO IS ERKAN KORK? Dr. Erkan Kork was born in 1974 in Istanbul, but he completed his primary and secondary education in Jeddah and his high school education in Dubai. He graduated from the Business Administration department of Paris University. Kork, who completed his master's degree in business management in 2022, finished his doctorate in business management economics at Conley University in 2024.
He managed his family business in Dubai for a while. Erkan Kork took over as Chairman of the Board of PayFix Electronic Money and Payment Services Inc. in Turkey and the Middle East in 2019.
Since September 11, 2023, Kork has been the Chairman of the Board of Bank Pozitif, and he is also a board member of the Turkish Payment and Electronic Money Institutions Association. He is the founder and owner of WORDFIX TECHNOLOGY LCC, which serves Qatar, the Middle East, and Arab countries and is located in Dubai. As of January 2025, he is also the new owner of Flash TV.