Turkey deems OnlyFans income illicit, detains 16 over alleged laundering

Police detained 16 suspects in simultaneous raids across eight provinces today as part of an investigation into alleged laundering of the revenue they got through OnlyFans, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced.

Nine more individuals have arrest warrants against them, including some reportedly abroad.

The suspects allegedly directed followers from other social media accounts to OnlyFans, where they shared explicit photos and videos for a fee.

Assets seized

The suspects invested their OnlyFans revenue in movable and immovable properties, as well as through cryptocurrencies, gold, and time deposit accounts. The prosecutor’s office describes these activites as suspected money laundering.

As part of the investigation, authorities seized two companies, 10 real estate properties, and 14 vehicles belonging to the suspects. When including the market value of the companies, the total amount of the seized assets reaches approximately 300 million liras (6.8 million US dollars).

Police carried out the raids in İstanbul, Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Kocaeli, and Samsun.

OnlyFans has been banned in Turkey since 2023. In recent years, authorities have increased pressure on popular adult content creators, citing obscenity laws as the basis for legal action.

This latest operation marks the first time that the revenue earned through adult content is deemed proceeds of crime.

Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code prohibits the distribution of “obscene” content through press and media. However, the law lacks a specific definition of obscenity, and there are no provisions addressing platforms like OnlyFans, which provide on-demand access to adult content.

(TY/VK)