ISTANBUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish authorities announced on Monday the successful dismantling of a large fraud ring accused of swindling nearly 1 billion Turkish liras (24 million U.S. dollars) from 537 victims.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said in a post on the social media platform X that the operation, based in the northwestern province of Tekirdag, extended across 18 provinces nationwide, including Istanbul, and resulted in 46 detentions.
He said 41 suspects were arrested, with five others under judicial control.
According to Yerlikaya, the suspects set up shell companies promising high profits to defraud citizens, causing losses of 984 million liras. Investigators also uncovered a total transaction volume of 5 billion liras in the suspects' bank accounts.
A video shared by the minister shows special forces, backed by police units, raiding the suspects' residences and escorting them to the police department in Tekirdag.
The case has drawn widespread public attention in Türkiye, where fraud cases involving shell companies have increasingly targeted ordinary citizens, underscoring growing concerns over economic security and financial crime prevention. ■
