A criminal organization that was found to have defrauded citizens through advertisements posted on e-commerce websites as part of an investigation into the prevention and tracking of cyber crimes was detained on April 24 in an operation and taken to court. The interrogations of the 49 suspects who were brought to the courthouse have been completed.
Among these suspects, 44 including the ringleader of the gang, S.K., were arrested by the duty magistrate, while others were placed under judicial control. 2 suspects were released from the police department on the prosecutor’s orders.
On April 24, in simultaneous operations carried out in 11 provinces, including Kocaeli, a total of 51 suspects, including the gang leader S.K., were detained, and it was determined that 5 of the suspects who were involved in the crime were already in prison for other offenses. A significant amount of digital materials related to the crime were seized in the searches conducted during the operations.
It was determined that the criminal organization had set up call centers in 5 different regions, and members of the gang who posted fake advertisements on e-commerce websites communicated with citizens through open lines. The suspects, who used reassuring statements in phone conversations, transferred the money they deceived the victims into paying for deposits, shipping fees, transportation costs, and insurance fees to other accounts opened by members of the criminal organization, and converted the received funds into various cryptocurrencies to cover their tracks.
It was found that the criminal organization defrauded a total of 37 individuals, including families affected by earthquakes and disabled citizens, using this method, and a total of 52 million 675 thousand 400 Turkish lira was found to have been deposited and withdrawn from the accounts of the members of the criminal organization.
It was understood that 3 of the suspects had 25-year final prison sentences for a total of 23 different crimes.
