Turkish court arrests founder of Ponzi scheme Farm Bank

An Istanbul court on July 7 arrested Mehmet Aydın, the 29-year-old creator of Farm Bank Ponzi scheme game (Çiftlik Bank in Turkish), on charges of "establishing a criminal organization" and "fraud."

Wednesday July 07 2021 05:59 pm

Duvar English

A Turkish court on July 7 formally arrested the creator of a Ponzi scheme who surrendered himself earlier this week.

Mehmet Aydın, the 29-year-old creator of Farm Bank Ponzi scheme game (Çiftlik Bank in Turkish), is accused of "establishing a criminal organization" and "fraud" and faces up to 75,260 years in prison.

Aydın turned himself in to the Turkish Consulate in Sao Paulo on June 30 and was brought to Turkey on July 3. He was detained at the Istanbul Airport as part of an investigation.

Following an interrogation period of four days, he appeared before the Istanbul Anatolian Court on July 7, which ordered his arrest.

In his testimony to authorities, Aydın said that he had not established Farm Bank for purposes of fraud and had not promised anyone any profits.

Farm Bank is thought to have collected over 500 million liras from more than 75,000 users, and Aydın is thought to have transferred at least 100 million of the funds to his personal accounts, some of which are located in Turkish Cyprus.

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where revenue paid by new investors generates returns for older investors, rather than from legitimate business activities or profit from financial trading.