Crypto Fraud and Money Laundering Crimes in Turkey

Turkey has one of the highest cryptocurrency adoption rates in the world. As volumes rise, so do crimes involving digital assets. While there isn’t a specific “Crypto Penal Code” yet, the Turkish legal system prosecutes these crimes effectively under the general provisions of the Penal Code (TCK) and the Law on Prevention of Laundering Proceeds of Crime (Law No. 5549).

1. Crypto Fraud (Qualified Fraud)

Soliciting money from investors granting high returns and then disappearing (Rug Pull), or running a fake exchange that blocks withdrawals, constitutes Qualified Fraud (Nitelikli Dolandırıcılık) under TCK Article 158/1-f (“By using information systems, banks or credit institutions”).

Key Features

• Deception (Hile): The perpetrator must use a sophisticated lie to deceive the victim. Just “losing money in trading” is not fraud.
• Intent: The intent must be present from the start (or formed later).
• Thodex Case: The famous collapse of the Thodex exchange was prosecuted as “Fraud by using information systems” and “Establishing a Criminal Organization.” The penalties sought were thousands of years.

Penalty: Imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and a heavy judicial fine (up to 5000 days).

2. Money Laundering (Suç Gelirlerinin Aklanması) - TCK 282

Cryptocurrencies are often used to hide the origins of illegal funds (drug money, illegal betting, bribes) due to their perceived anonymity. This is a separate crime.

The Act: Anyone who transfers illegal funds into the system to process them or transfers them abroad to mask their illegitimate source. Penalty: Imprisonment from 3 to 7 years.

MASAK Regulations and KYC

The Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) now considers Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) (like Paribu, BtcTurk, Binance TR) as “liability parties.” They are legally obliged to:

• KYC (Know Your Customer): Verify the ID of every user.
• STR (Suspicious Transaction Report): Report transactions exceeding limits or looking weird (e.g., a student moving millions).
• Retention: Keep records for 8 years.

3. Legal Defense Strategies

Defending against crypto charges requires technical knowledge.

• “It was a Business Failure”: Startups fail. High-risk trading bots fail. Defense aims to prove that the loss was due to market volatility or incompetence, not “Fraudulent Intent.” Incompetence is not a crime.
• “I am just an intermediary”: For money laundering, proving lack of knowledge about the “dirty” source of funds.
• Traceability: Using blockchain analysis to show where the funds actually went (if they were really invested or stolen).

Conclusion

The “Wild West” era of crypto in Turkey is ending. Prosecutors are becoming savvy with blockchain forensics. Investors who lost money in scams should file a criminal complaint immediately to freeze the assets of the suspects (if they can be found).

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