29.12.2025 19:25
As part of the investigation into "betting in football," 26 individuals, including former Galatasaray Sportif AŞ Vice President Erden Timur, were referred to the courthouse. A request for the arrest of 22 suspects, including former Galatasaray Vice President Erden Timur, was made. The case against Erden Timur was separated from the "betting" investigation and transferred to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office at the request of the prosecutor's office.
As part of the 'betting in football' investigation, 26 suspects, including former Galatasaray Sportif AŞ Vice President Erden Timur and Eyüpspor Vice President Fatih Kulaksız, as well as Turkey Football Federation (TFF) Director of External Relations and National Teams Buğra Cem İmamoğulları, were detained in a simultaneous operation conducted in 11 provinces.
REFERRED TO COURT WITH A REQUEST FOR ARREST After a health check, the 26 suspects were brought to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan. Among them, 22 suspects, including Erden Timur, who is being prosecuted for 'money laundering from crime', were referred to the Peace Criminal Court with a request for arrest, while 3 suspects were referred with a request for judicial control. Meanwhile, 4 suspects were released after the procedures at the police station.
TIMUR'S FILE HAS BEEN SEPARATED The file regarding Erden Timur, who was detained as part of the investigation into betting allegations in football, has been separated from the 'betting' investigation. It was learned that the file was transferred to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Bureau upon the necessity seen by the prosecutor's office.
ERDEN TIMUR'S STATEMENT HAS EMERGED After being referred to the courthouse, Erden Timur's statement to the prosecutor's office has also emerged.
'THE MONEY IS STILL IN THE BTE COMPANY' In his statement to the prosecutor's office, Erden Timur said, "I heard the name Veysel Şahin when information came from the Istanbul Police Department. Generally, I do not know the buyers as I sell between 3,000–4,000 apartments annually. I heard his name because the friends from the police told me that Veysel Şahin is an illegal betting baron. I learned that I sold 24 apartments of 57 square meters to Veysel Şahin in 2014-2015. The friends at the police said that Veysel Şahin bought a house from my project in 2014-2015. They told me to delay the title deed delivery process because an operation would be conducted against Veysel. Therefore, I did not deliver the title deed. Veysel Şahin had deposited the money in 26 installments into the company account. However, I do not remember whether he paid all the installments at that time, but it appears to be paid now. I received this money from Veysel, and it is still in the BTE company we transferred in 2023. The reason I have not returned this money is that there has been no request from judicial authorities regarding this money. Additionally, I have no obligation to return this money," he said.
'I BORROWED 220 KILOGRAMS OF GOLD FROM MY FATHER' Timur continued in his statement, "I fell into a difficult situation due to rising inflation during the COVID period. During this process, I borrowed approximately 220 kilograms of physical gold worth 4-5 million TL from acquaintances and my father. This amount is equivalent to 1-2 months of expenses for my company. I physically took this debt and gold. I made the payment in cash to my father within the last year. The reason for buying gold is both to accumulate gold and to pay off my gold debt to my father. I also borrowed gold from the jeweler. The money traffic in question stems from this. The debt protocols were signed about 1-1.5 years ago. The reason the protocol is undated is that I had to convince my father to sign this document under pressure," he said.
'MURAT ÖZKAYA INITIATED ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS' In his statement, Timur said, "I have known Murat Özkaya since 2018. My main acquaintance was in 2022. He wanted to buy real estate from one of my projects. He gave a down payment and ten sequential checks to our company. He was interested in selecting real estate for 3 months, but when he could not choose any, he later stated that he was withdrawing from the agreement with a notice. Then he initiated enforcement proceedings against the company and me. The reason for initiating enforcement proceedings in my name is that the land is registered in my name. We have a debt and settlement protocol between us. Additionally, we made a promissory note regarding this debt in 2024, and we paid these debts. Murat Özkaya made the payments for the mentioned real estate both through Metal Oto and his personal account," he said.
'I HAD SEEN FATIH KULAKSIZ TWICE BEFORE' Timur continued in his statement, "I had seen Fatih Kulaksız twice before. I have no commercial relationship with Fatih, and apart from the real estate purchase mentioned with Murat, I have no commercial relationship. In 2021-2022, I transferred the lands registered in my name to the company. I have 40 companies registered in my name. After 2021-2022, I have also had personal accounts and later transferred the amounts obtained from the transactions to the company. Most recently, a few months ago, I transferred the land registered in my name to the company. The money deposited into my account was automatically transferred to the company account. The money transferred to my personal account is related to the sales we made as a result of the company's project regarding the land," he said.
'WE BOUGHT APPROXIMATELY 144 MILLION TL WORTH OF TOKENS ON A CRYPTO ASSET PLATFORM' In the continuation of his statement, Timur said, "In 2023, about 5-6 months ago, my companies were audited by officials from the Ministry of Commerce. No issues were found except for simple contract clause errors. We have written correspondence with the ministry regarding this. Although the cash deposited into my personal account in 2024 may seem like large amounts, it is actually equivalent to the company's monthly expenses. The cash deposited into my account comes from the debts I have taken. In the past, only profit distributions were transferred to my account for debt payments from the company. The company I am a partner in, Timur Real Estate Development Construction and Investment A."Ş. üzerinden 2024–2025 yıllarında OKX TR isimli kripto varlık platformunda yaklaşık 144 milyon TL civarında yatırım amaçlı token satın aldık. Bu satın alma işleminde herhangi bir kimseyi aracı kılmadık. Her ne kadar kripto varlık platformuna şirket adına göndermiş olduğumuz paranın 1 milyon dolarlık kısmının Akın Topal'da gönderildiği tespit olunmuş ise de, ben bunu hatırlamıyorum. Topal hem müteahhit hem de benim çocukluk arkadaşımdır. Aynı zamanda benim şirketlerimin taşeronluğunu da yapar. Topal'ın firmalarının adı Merkez Girişim ve MTU Gayrimenkul'dür. Topal ile yaklaşık 3–4 yıldır borç alışverişimiz olmuştur. Nef 22 projesi kapsamında dükkanların satış işlemleri Hasan Peker'e aitti. Biz proje sahibi olduğumuz için taşınmaz satış vaadi sözleşmesini biz yapıyorduk, ancak buradan alınacak para bize ait değildi. Volkan Altunbaş isimli şahıs Hasan Peker'e tekne satmış, karşılığında da bu projeden dükkan satın alacaktı. Volkan Altunbaş, tekneyi Hasan Peker'e sattığı dönemde Volkan'ın akrabaları miras sebebiyle mal kaçırıldığından bahisle bu teknenin üzerine tedbir koydurdular. Bundan kaynaklı olarak Hasan PEKER bu dükkân satımından tapu devrini bekletti. Bu tedbir kaldırımı yaklaşık 2 yıl sürdü. Tedbir kalktıktan sonra tapunun verilip verilmediğini hatırlamıyorum ancak verilmiş olması gerekir; çünkü bu kez de yerlerin değerinin düştüğünden bahisle tapu iptal ve tescil davası açtı, o davayı da kaybetti" dedi.
'I DO NOT HAVE A MEMBERSHIP TO LEGAL OR ILLEGAL BETTING SITES' Timur stated in his testimony, "A criminal complaint was filed, but we received a decision of non-prosecution in all of them. In fact, all our commercial books were examined due to this incident, and no irregularities were found. The only project we had with the Peker Group was Nef 22. These individuals were already landowners. After this date, we had no other commercial relationship. I do not have a membership to legal or illegal betting sites. I have no involvement or witness in any match-fixing incident. I do not know Veysel ŞAHİN. It is not possible for me to know whether the people I sold the apartment to have a criminal record. At the time of sale, no one knew Veysel Şahin. I never thought questions would be asked about Veysel Şahin. The apartment sales are conducted by the manager we designated as the signatory in the company. It is not possible for us to be involved in all sales. It is clear that when we make even the slightest increase in zoning, we will earn more than three times the total of these specified amounts. I have conducted my business honestly to date. Additionally, I have been helping people through a foundation with amounts many times greater than those mentioned in the report, which I have never reported anywhere until now. Indeed, in the audit conducted by independent organizations, we canceled sales worth over 20 billion lira in the last 3.5 years. I do not accept the accusations against me. In audits conducted by independent organizations, my company has always ranked high within the country. My company operates in 6 different countries. My company is a large structure in both national and international fields. The amounts mentioned are less than the company's monthly expenses. Although I stated in the flow of my testimony that I did not return the money I received from Veysel Şahin, the money in question was not returned because the judicial authorities did not cancel or request it from me. I have not made any application to any authority either. In fact, I am not obliged to do so under consumer law," he said.
WHAT HAPPENED? In a statement made by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on Friday, it was stated that evidence was found as a result of data obtained from MASAK and legal betting sites, open source research, PFDK decisions, HTS analysis studies, and the examination of digital items seized from other suspects in the previous two operations.
In the statement, it was reported that as a result of this evidence, 7 suspects, who were evaluated to have financial transactions related to the suspect who was arrested in the previous two operations, were identified as having placed bets on the Kasımpaşa-Samsunspor football match on October 26, 2024, in a way that would affect the outcome of the provincial competition.
ALLEGATIONS AGAINST ERDEN TIMUR It was stated that Erden Timur was involved in money traffic related to betting and money laundering regulations, rather than direct betting. It was alleged that in Timur's examined bank accounts, there were money inflows and outflows deemed to be from betting, suspicions of concealing the source of the money / losing its trace, and detection of interconnected and unusual financial transactions. It was expressed that Erden Timur was under investigation not for direct match-fixing suspicion, but through betting and suspicious financial movements, within the scope of betting crimes and money laundering regulations.