Alarming increase in suspicious transactions in Turkey
According to the 2014 annual report of the Finance Ministry’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), there has been an alarming increase in reported suspicious transactions.
From 2013 reported suspicious transactions have increased by 42.6 percent, and 2.5 times in the past four years to 36,483 in 2014.
85 percent of the notifications to MASAK have been filed by banks, at a total of 31,146 – followed by the state postal service (PTT) at 1,677, insurance companies at 693, currency exchange offices – companies trading in precious metals at 489.
A total of TRY 37.4 million in fines have been issued in the past five years by MASAK on scores of charges, including unfair gains, cons, tax evasion, racketeering and money laundering.
The irregularities have also concerned a total of 55 countries across the globe who have made 265 requests for information on suspicious activity and received 24 notices.
The United States has dominated this list, requesting information on 154 companies and individuals as opposed to 11 vice-versa. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK have followed the US in requests.
