Turkey gets tough on financial transactions

GVC Holding’s decision to offload its Turkish interests earlier this year (see previous reports) has turned out to be a timely move as news emerged this week that gambling financial transactions are going to be more closely scrutinised and monitored.

The Trend news agency reports that the Turkish Banking Supervision Body has confirmed that restrictions on money transfers, along with cash withdrawals from ATMs, are to be more closely monitored, with individual bank accounts that show daily maximum allowed withdrawals placed under special monitoring.

Trend reports that the restrictions are elements in combatting financial fraud and illegal gambling, with the banking supervisor claiming that around 5 million Turks participate in illegal online gambling, using ATM transactions.

Our readers will recall that earlier this year a special task force in the Prosecutor General’s Office was formed to monitor online gambling websites and enforce Turkish laws against operators.

Since then police and task force officials have been active, conducting numerous raids involving thousands of officers across the nation.