Mehmet Ali Erbil described the offer made by illegal bookmakers in his statement to the prosecutor's office.

The statement of the suspect Mehmet Ali Erbil, who was detained as part of the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the allegation of illegal betting promotion and was placed under judicial control in the form of "house arrest" by the duty magistrate to whom he was referred with a request for arrest, has been obtained.

HOW DID THE FAMOUS HOST MEET ILLEGAL BETTORS?

In his statement at the prosecutor's office, Mehmet Ali Erbil explained that when asked how he knew the people in the video recording included in the investigation file, he met these individuals through a mutual friend. Erbil stated that he was invited to the opening of a hotel in Malta by one of the suspects, Serdar Ortaç, and that these individuals were trying to film there.

Erbil claimed that during this opening, the hotel owner tried to make him wear a t-shirt, which he later learned contained a betting advertisement, and he expressed his opposition to this situation, using the following statements:

"Due to our being guests, I also had a disagreement with those who invited us. I have statements like 'Gambling is very harmful, I have never played in my life.' in the broadcasts on that site. This broadcast lasted about half an hour, and afterwards, realizing the situation, we made a press statement through our lawyers. A person named Ünal later called me, trying to deceive me. He invited me to a broadcast again, saying there was a program on YouTube, but I understood the situation and did not accept."

"HE OFFERED TO BROADCAST TOGETHER FOR 3 MONTHS, OFFERED 20-25 THOUSAND EUROS"

Claiming that this person had been offering him to broadcast together for 3 months and had offered 20-25 thousand euros for this, Erbil stated that he had no prior acquaintance with this person, and that he and the mutual friend who facilitated their meeting had not spoken again after the incident, asserting that he did not earn any income in exchange for appearing in the videos.

Erbil, who claimed that he did not realize the writings on the t-shirts of the people in the videos were illegal betting advertisements, noted that the video was recorded as a memory and that he did not know it was filmed for publication, stating that he did not accept the accusations against him.

"WE HAVE NO MATERIAL OR SPIRITUAL BENEFIT"

In his statement at the peace criminal court, Erbil expressed that he found himself in an event he was unaware of, saying, "They have made my advertisement and published my videos without my knowledge. I filed a criminal complaint around July, as far as I remember, through my lawyers, and I also made a public statement."

Claiming that he has never played illegal bets, Erbil said, "We only went to the opening of a restaurant with Serdar Ortaç for a change. We have no material or spiritual benefit. No interest can be found in my bank transactions. I do not need such a thing. I emphasize on my social media accounts that 'Do not gamble.' If I were to advertise, I could have promoted the names of such companies, but I did not engage in such a thing. I am innocent, and I request to be released."

In its decision, the peace criminal court ruled to reject the request for Erbil's arrest based on his age and health problems, and the lack of suspicion regarding the loss or destruction of existing evidence.

The court ruled that judicial control measures in the form of "house arrest" and "prohibition of leaving the country" would be applied to Erbil.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had issued detention orders for 23 suspects, including social media influencers and some famous names, in the investigation regarding the allegation of promoting illegal betting.

Among the suspects alleged to have been involved in illegal betting advertisements in the investigation were singer Serdar Ortaç, host Mehmet Ali Erbil, former football player Batuhan Karadeniz, social media influencers İbrahim Yılmaz, Muzaffer Zorbey Erkoçkar, Sefa Caner Sarıçam, and Russian and Turkish citizen Aleksander Mensikof.

In the operation carried out by the Istanbul Police Department teams, 16 of the suspects, including Mehmet Ali Erbil and Serdar Ortaç, were detained.

It was learned that 5 of the suspects were abroad, and efforts were ongoing to locate the other 2.

After their procedures at the police station, the suspects referred to the courthouse included Serdar Ortaç and Mehmet Ali Erbil, who were given a judicial control decision in the form of "house arrest," while 12 suspects, including Sefa Caner Sarıçam, Esma Sözen, Muzaffer Zorbey Erkoçkar, and İbrahim Yılmaz, were arrested, and it was decided that 2 suspects would be released under judicial control conditions.