Turkey detains 16 in OnlyFans probe, seizes $6.9 mln in assets

Turkey detained 16 people ​and seized assets worth about ​300 million lira ($6.9 ‌million) on Friday ​in an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to content shared on the OnlyFans ‌platform, prosecutors said.

Turkey detained 16 people ​and seized assets worth about ​300 million lira ($6.9 ‌million) on Friday ​in an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to content shared on the OnlyFans ‌platform, prosecutors said. The probe, led by a department investigating terrorism financing and money laundering crimes, targeted 25 suspects and two companies in operations ‌across eight provinces, including Istanbul, Ankara and Antalya, the Istanbul ‌chief public prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutors said suspects generated income by sharing explicit content on social media and directing users to paid platforms, including OnlyFans and private ⁠messaging channels such ​as Telegram. OnlyFans ⁠has been blocked in Turkey since June 7, 2023, by a ruling of ⁠an Istanbul court on the grounds that it hosted content deemed contrary ​to public morality and family values.

Despite the ban, suspects ⁠were found to have accessed the platform via virtual private networks (VPNs), prosecutors said. According ⁠to ​the statement, the suspects laundered proceeds through the purchase of assets, as well as investments in bitcoin and gold.

Authorities identified ⁠10 properties, 14 vehicles and two companies linked to the suspects. The ⁠total value ⁠of the assets was estimated at around 300 million lira. The prosecutor's office said the investigation was ongoing. (Writing ‌by ‌Ece Toksabay; Editing by Daren ​Butler and Saad Sayeed)

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