Massive Twitch Corruption Probe Leads To 40 Arrests

Turkish police detained 40 people yesterday, in an operation against a gang accused of running a money laundering scheme on Twitch.

The suspects, some of which are reportedly minors, have been accused of sending huge quantities of bits (a virtual currency on the platform) to streamers using stolen credit cards. The Demirören News Agency (DHA) reported that some streamers were aware of the scheme and collaborated with the suspects, and took a share of the money themselves, as well as sending payment in return for the bits.

The raid operation, which took place over 11 provinces, was the result of a probe by the Chief Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul, and came after a culmination of allegations over long-running fraud. Police have seized documents and digital materials, and four suspects still remain at large.

This scheme was actually exposed late last year, following the Twitch data leak which revealed the top earning streamers on the platform. At the time, the scandal reportedly earned the suspects around $10 million dollars, and over 2400 streamers were allegedly involved.

One of the streamers involved was pro Valorant player Mehmet Yağız ‘cNed’ İpek. He explained on stream back in November how he benefitted from the scandal, but went on to hit out at reports suggesting he was knowingly involved, insisting he never directly spoke to the scammers. 

“That guy sent me the bits, the bits transferred to me. I didn’t report those bits to Twitch, I acknowledge that. I didn’t report to Twitch and took the money.” he said.

cNed’s brother, Alihan ‘deNc’ İpek, also claimed that his brother didn’t want to work with the scammers: “I told the friend in question that we did not want to deal with this business,” he claimed. “He then asked me for the price of the bit and said that if we don’t throw more bits he will send more bits and bug the channel. In addition, the bit transmission took place against Mehmet’s request.”

Currently, the suspects have not been named, and it's not known what action they will face.

Topics: Twitch