Nine Israelis have been arrested in Turkey, local media reported Saturday, as authorities said they’d broken up an Israel-linked international investment fraud network accused of stealing some $266 million from victims across Europe, Asia and Africa.

The investigation targeted 42 call centers operated by 28 companies and involving 239 suspects, Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek wrote in a post on X.

Raids were carried out in Istanbul and the southwestern province of Mugla in coordination with Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, police and Interpol, he added.

Gurlek said simultaneous raids were launched at 286 locations in Istanbul and Mugla beginning at 5 a.m.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, the Israelis detained in the operation worked at call centers.

Gurlek said investigators had determined that people with links to Israel predominated among the owners and ultimate beneficiaries of the companies under investigation.

Middle East Eye reported that Turkish authorities identified one of the alleged masterminds as an Israeli citizen who also held a Portuguese passport.

Gurlek said analyses by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), findings from intelligence and police units, and hundreds of victim complaints obtained through Interpol had uncovered “an organized fraud structure targeting different countries.”

Turkish officials told Middle East Eye that the operation was connected to an international criminal network they referred to as “Scam Empire,” which has operated in multiple countries for years and was recently investigated by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

How the alleged scheme worked

According to Gurlek, the network attracted victims through online and social-media advertisements offering supposedly lucrative forex and cryptocurrency investments, then assigned multilingual customer-service representatives to communicate with them.

Once victims began investing, platforms controlled by the alleged operators displayed fictitious profits in an effort to persuade them to deposit additional funds, Gurlek added.

Gurlek said that when clients attempted to withdraw their money, they were asked to make further payments under pretexts such as an........

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