A major operation was conducted by Turkish Police in an area part of Istanbul, where a handful of crypto scammers had taken 101 persons as hostages. Live-action was seen on the streets and in the end, Turkish Police came successful in rescuing the hostages and arresting the Chinese scammers.
Live-action was seen in the streets of Istanbul where people gathered to see the Police operation against criminals.
It was reported in Istanbul that an investment consultancy firm relating to crypto was established in Istanbul. Upon establishment of the firm, the firm also hired staff consisting of over 101 people. Demiroren Haber Ajansi, which is the local police in Istanbul, was informed that the firm was running illegal operations i.e. fake crypto consultancy firm.
Upon investigation, the police decided to carry out full-fledged operation against the firm.
When the police came at the site, where the firm was located, the situation became serious. The key officials of the firm, who were all of Chinese origin, resisted and engaged in oral argument with the police. The police also noted at the scene that the hired staff too was of different origins. Upon question, the staff revealed that they had been kept as hostages by key personnel of the firm at different villas in Istanbul. They further explained that they were not allowed to leave their villas and go out, even for groceries.
The police then came to realize that this was not an ordinary crime but a gang full of criminals. It was informed by police after the arrests that at least 101 employees of the firm were in actual fact hostages. Though they had been paid US$ 1,000 approximately per month, but they were not allowed to go out and spend the money.
The issue was then reported to the Chinese Embassy in Istanbul and the kidnapped Chinese staff was released by police.
However, the police have taken custody of at least 18 individuals on the allegations of being the mastermind behind the crypto scam scheme. All of these 18 individuals are IT-Engineers and Computer Programmers who lured the hostages to work for them.
Police found out that the firm was engaged in activities where it was posting false ads of doubling the investment. At least 100 armed policemen were sent to apprehend the criminals. Upon rescuing the hostages, police found out that these individuals were all hired by the firm from China, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. They all came to Turkey for the purposes of sightseeing and tourism. However, the firm seized their travel documents and forced them to live within the villas.
Out of 18 arrested individuals, at least 6 have been moved to the courthouse while the rest of them have been detained. As an interim measure the authorities have put all these individuals on Exit Control List.
