Businessman and former Galatasaray Sportif A.Ş. Deputy Chairman Erden Timur was arrested on charges of ‘laundering assets arising from crime’ after being detained within the scope of a large-scale investigation into football betting allegations. The file was separated from the main investigation at the request of the prosecutor’s office and was handled by the Terrorism Financing and Laundering Crimes Bureau. The information that has been made public so far is shaped by the referral letter of the prosecutor’s office, MASAK evaluations and what happened in the judicial process.
How did the detention process begin?
A simultaneous operation was carried out in 11 provinces on December 26, 2025, within the scope of the ‘betting on football’ investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. During the operations, 26 people were detained, including former Galatasaray Sportif AŞ Deputy Chairman and NEF Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors Erden Timur. The detention orders were implemented in line with judicial instructions given on allegations of betting on football and suspicious money transfers.
It was learned that Erden Timur was detained on charges of “providing or promising profit or other benefits to someone else in order to influence the outcome of a sports competition”, “placing illegal bets” and “laundering illegal proceeds of crime”.
Erden Timur was among the names detained within the scope of this investigation; However, during the prosecution phase, he was separated from the other suspects due to the scope of his file.
Why was the file separated?
According to the information in BBC Turkish and Habertürk, the prosecutor’s office concluded that the investigation into Erden Timur was not limited to “betting on football” acts. For this reason, Timur’s file was separated from the main investigation and sent to the Terrorism Financing and Laundering Crimes Bureau. The prosecutor’s office placed the allegation of “laundering assets resulting from crime” at the center of the investigation carried out against Timur.
After this stage, Timur was evaluated for his financial transactions and money movements, not for his allegations of betting or influencing the outcome of the match.
On what charge did the prosecutor’s office request arrest?
The prosecutor’s office requested Erden Timur’s arrest for allegedly committing the crime of “laundering property values resulting from crime”. An arrest warrant was issued for Timur, who was referred to the judgeship on duty on December 29. The court accepted the arrest request, taking into account the current state of evidence, the MASAK report and the upper penalty limit of the crime.
What allegations were included in the referral letter?
According to the news in Habertürk, in the referral letter submitted by the prosecutor’s office to the judgeship on duty, attention was drawn to the high amount of money transfers made through Timur Gayrimenkul Geliştirme Yapı ve Yatırım AŞ, of which Erden Timur is a partner. In the article, it was stated that a total of 144 million 217 thousand TL was sent to the crypto asset platform called OKX TR between 2024 and 2025, this money was converted into crypto assets and approximately 1 million dollars of it was transferred to the crypto exchange accounts abroad belonging to Akın Topal.
The prosecutor’s office stated that there were mutual money transfers between Timur and Akın Topal, and that Timur explained these transactions as a “debt relationship” in his statement, but that this could not be considered a simple credit-credit relationship due to the amount, frequency and nature of the transfers.
In the same news, it was stated that the referral letter also stated that approximately 1 billion TL worth of money transfer was made through a company operating in the Grand Bazaar between 2023 and 2025, with the explanation of “gold buying and selling”. It was claimed that high volume transactions were carried out on behalf of Metal Oto Ticaret and Eyüpspor Club through the same company.
The prosecutor’s office noted that there was a lot of money entering Erden Timur’s personal accounts through real estate prices and deposit statements, and that approximately 300 million TL cash was deposited into personal accounts in 2024 alone. It was emphasized that carrying out company transactions through personal accounts is against commercial practices.
The referral letter also included the assessment that although some of the companies Timur was responsible for declared commercial losses in the last three years, company assets were transferred to personal accounts in high amounts and therefore the companies suffered losses.
Allegation of illegal betting connection
The prosecutor’s office stated that as a result of the examination of account movements and money transfers, money transactions were detected with people considered to be related to illegal betting. It was claimed that through these transactions, illegal betting proceeds were laundered by making them appear legitimate through transactions such as real estate sales and deposit payments.
In the referral letter, reference was also made to the news and posts in the press that 24 flats were sold to Veysel Şahin, who is known as the illegal betting baron and about whom there are other files. It was stated that these sales had previously been brought up in investigations regarding the crime of money laundering.
What was his response to the allegations about Timur?
Businessman Erden Timur’s statement at the police station was also revealed. Timur responded to the allegations as follows:
- “The person named Veysel ŞAHİN purchased a total of 24 real estates of 57 square meters each, 22 in 2014 and 2 from the Nef 13 project in Davutpaşa/Zeytinburnu in 2015. These real estates were purchased in 26 monthly installments.
- We sold approximately 1,000 flats from this project in that period. The sales made to the person named Veysel ŞAHİN were also made in this way, with the signature of the relevant sales officials. Moreover, there is no data regarding illegal betting or any other crime about Veysel ŞAHİN in open sources in 2014 and 2015. The accusations against him became public after 2017.
- The 24 flats purchased by the person named Veysel ŞAHİN in question are registered in the name of BTE Kağıthane Gayrimenkul Yatırım ve Ticaret. The title deeds of these flats, for which a sales contract was signed, have not been transferred. The reason for this is that we were informed verbally by the Istanbul Police in 2017 that a judicial investigation was being carried out against Veysel ŞAHİN. We did not transfer the title deeds from that day until May 2023, when we transferred the company. When we transferred the company, we informed the transferees of this situation.
- As far as we know, the title deeds have not been transferred yet. Although we had a serious risk of compensation liability according to the verbal information given by the police, we did not transfer the title deeds for approximately 6 years until we transferred the company. This issue, which will be seen in the land registry records, will be clearly visible upon request. My lawyers will also submit all documents and contract samples regarding this issue to the prosecutor’s office.
- We are talking about a period when we had projects where we sold 100-150 flats a day on some days. There were also transactions from the same project, in the same period, where more real estate was sold at once than this purchase as a mass sale. The necessary documents regarding this issue will be submitted to the file by my lawyers.
- Even in the following years, when the economic conjuncture was worse than this period, as a company that sold more than 490 flats in two days, it is not possible for me to have personal information about who made the purchase. Notary documents regarding these figures will also be submitted to the file by my lawyers.
- My company and I do not have a legal obligation to conduct research on buyers in sales, nor do we have the opportunity to request a criminal record. In addition, at the time of these sales, 62.5% of the shares of BTE Kağıthane Real Estate Investment and Trade Company, which was a party to the purchases, belonged to Timur Gayrimenkul A.Ş., and the remaining 37.5% belonged to a person named Nezih BARUT.
- The accounts of the company, which is a party to the sales promise agreements, were opened at the bank branch where Nezih BARUT’s companies work. Again, the financial consultancy of the company was carried out by the financial advisors with whom Nezih BARUT has been working for a long time.”
Who else is in the investigation?
A total of 19 people, in addition to Erden Timur, were arrested within the scope of the same investigation. While some names, including Eyüpspor Vice President Fatih Kulaksız, were sent to prison, three suspects were released on condition of judicial control. Turkish Football Federation Foreign Relations and National Teams Administrative Director Buğra Cem İmamoğulları was among the names released.
At what stage is the process?
The file is at the investigation stage with the arrest warrant issued for Erden Timur. The prosecution’s allegations are based on the referral letter and MASAK evaluations. It is unknown whether the scope of the accusations will expand in the later stages of the investigation and whether new detention or arrest orders will be issued.
Who is Erden Timur?
He is the founder of the NEF brand, which operates in the real estate and construction sector, and served as chairman of the board for many years.
Born in Mersin in 1980, Erden Timur completed his undergraduate education in Türkiye. Timur, who started his business life in the real estate sector, became known for the housing projects implemented especially in Istanbul with the NEF brand he founded in the early 2010s. NEF quickly became one of the well-known brands in the sector with its “shared living spaces”, “innovative housing model” and aggressive marketing strategies. In addition to housing projects, the company also operated in commercial real estate and urban transformation areas.
With his rise in the business world, Erden Timur was also included in the Billionaires lists prepared by Forbes. Timur gained wider public recognition by entering the “100 Richest Turks” list announced by Forbes in the early 2020s.
In 2020, Timur became one of Forbes’ 100 Richest People in Türkiye with a fortune of approximately $400 million.
Timur took an active role in the sports community as well as the business world. Erden Timur, who entered the management of Galatasaray Sports Club in 2022, served as the Vice President of Galatasaray Sportif AŞ. During this duty, he took part in the club’s sponsorship agreements, financial restructuring process and transfer operations. He left his managerial position at Galatasaray in 2024.
Additionally, in 2024, Timur became the Turkish licensor of the American business and economy magazine Forbes, which ended its publication in Türkiye in 2020, with TMR Publishing company.
Source: Newspaper Oxygen
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