Leaked documents have revealed Turkish Cypriot businessmen who own companies in Curaçao, which is a Caribbean island known for offshore gambling licenses, to operate betting and gambling websites that target the Turkish-speaking market, but are unlicensed in northern Cyprus and Turkey. Nearly all of them are blacklisted by Turkey’s lottery regulatory authority.
CIReN reviewed documents from four Curaçao companies owned by Turkish Cypriots, which were licensed by the Curaçao Gaming Authority to operate 19 betting and gambling sites that are targeting Turkish-speaking players. Seventeen of the brands appear on Turkey’s blacklist.
The Curaçao Gaming Authority states that license holders must comply with the laws of every jurisdiction where they offer betting and gambling services, which may require them to block access in countries where those services are unlawful.
Prof. Dr. Vahit Bıçak – founder and chairman of the Bıçak Law Firm in Turkey, who is an expert in criminal procedure and the law of evidence, told CIReN that a license obtained in a foreign country does not substitute for a permit or authorization issued by Turkey’s competent authorities.
“A betting or gaming license obtained from Curaçao does not automatically grant the license holder the legal authority to conduct betting operations in Turkey or to offer betting services to customers in Turkey,” Bıçak said. “Therefore, the fact that a betting site is licensed in Curaçao does not mean it is legal in Turkey.”
Companies in Curaçao, their owners, their roles, and betting sites
| Curaçao company | Owner identified in the files | Role | Brands in the records |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hasel N.V. | Ahmet Altuner through Noble Sentry | B2C Operator | Elexbet, Mrbahis, Ngsbahis and Savoybetting |
| TC Entertainment N.V. | Ünal Aydoğan 50% and Sönmez Aydoğan 50% | B2C Operator | Hititbet, Betorder, Bets4you, Troybet, and Globalbahis |
| Arena Sports Entertainment N.V. | Arkın Investments parent company and Erbil Mehmet Arkın 99% UBO | B2C Operator | Betarena, csccasinos, kurdbet, mosulbet, sportarenabet and ttbetarena |
| SkySea Tech N.V. | Sadik Shemi 100% | B2C Operator | Bahisbudur, Milosbet, Betgram and Betvino |
The names behind the unlicensed betting and gambling sites
Ünal Aydoğan and Sönmez Hatice Aydoğan – Ünal Aydoğan and Sönmez Hatice Aydoğan, who own hotels, casinos, and betting shops in north Cyprus, jointly owned TC Entertainment N.V., a Curaçao company as of June 2025, the latest available record. A number of banned betting and gambling websites were operated by this company with the brand names Hititbet, Betorder, Bets4You, Troybet and Globalbahis.
According to the company’s financial records, the Turkish lira is among the accepted currencies on these betting and gambling sites, and it uses brand and site names tailored to Turkish-speaking players. Risk assessment officers at the Curaçao Gaming Authority identified Turkey as one of the company’s target markets, according to leaked documents. None of these sites are licensed in north Cyprus and Turkey, and all are blacklisted by Turkey.
The Aydoğan family’s northern Cyprus-registered company, Aydogan Tourism and Leisure Ltd., holds a betting shop and online betting license issued by Turkish Cypriot authorities for the HititBet brand. However, the Curaçao-licensed HititBet-branded sites operate under different domain names than the HititBet entity licensed in north Cyprus. While the north Cyprus-licensed HititBet site offers only online betting, the Curaçao-licensed HititBet also allows for online gambling, which is banned in both northern Cyprus and Turkey.
According to a source of funds declaration submitted to the Curaçao authorities Ünal Aydoğan and Sönmez Hatice Aydoğan, in August 2025, stated that the initial capital for TC Entertainment N.V. came from revenues generated by north Cyprus-based Lord’s Palace Hotel, Lord’s Palace Casino, and Lord’s Palace Lagoon; as well as from licensed physical betting shops and casinos in the northern part of Cyprus . Documents list TC Entertainment’s 2024 revenue around €13.7 million.
Ünal Aydoğan and Sönmez Hatice Aydoğan did not respond to requests for comment.
Documents showing the online gaming application by TC Entertainment N.V. and the company’s ownership structure.
Erbil Mehmet Arkın – Erbil Arkın, who owns numerous hotels and casinos in the northern part of Cyprus, is the ultimate beneficial owner of Arena Sports Entertainment N.V., and as of April 2025, personally held nearly all of the company’s shares alongside his holding company, Arkın Investments Limited. Arena Sports Entertainment operated a number of betting and gambling sites with the brand names: csccasinos, kurdbet, Betarena, sportarenabet, ttbetarena, and mosulbet.
Risk assessment officers at the Curaçao Gaming Authority identified Turkey as one of the company’s target markets. However, none of Arkın’s betting sites are licensed in north Cyprus or Turkey, and, with the exception of ‘kurdbet’, all of them are blacklisted by Turkey.
Arkın Investment Ltd., Arkın’s company registered in north Cyprus, holds betting-shop and online betting licenses issued by the Turkish Cypriot authorities solely for the “Cyprus Sporting Club” brand.
Arkın did not respond to a request for comment.
Documents showing the online gaming application by Arena Sports Entertainment and the company’s ownership structure.
Sadık Shemi – Sadık Shemi’s Curaçao-registered company SkySea Tech N.V. operates banned betting and gambling sites under the brand names Bahisbudur, Milosbet, Betgram and Betvino. According to the business plan submitted by SkySea Tech N.V. to the Curaçao Gaming Authority, Turkey is among its target markets, and the company accepts payments in Turkish Lira and the TRX cryptocurrency. None of these betting sites are licensed in north Cyprus and Turkey, and all except Milosbet are blacklisted by Turkey.
In the final report by the review team regarding SkySea Tech N.V.’s license application, it is written that Shemi “has stated a net worth of GBP 5,000,000 which has not been evidenced.” The report continues: “Of greater concern is the business only targeting the Turkish market where online gaming is illegal so the sustainability of the business is in question.”
Shemi did not respond to a request for comment.
Documents showing the online gaming application by SkySea Tech N.V. and the company’s ownership structure.
Ahmet Altuner – Ahmet Altuner, controlled the Curaçao company Hasel N.V. through his Curaçao-registered company Noble Sentry Private Foundation, as of March 2025. Four banned betting and gambling sites—Mrbahis, Elexbet, Ngsbahis, and Savoybetting—operate under Hasel N.V., which was established in Curaçao in November 2014.
In the business plan submitted to the Curaçao Gaming Authority in October 2025, Hasel N.V. stated that it targeted Turkish-speaking audiences and planned targeted advertising specifically in the Turkish language. Risk assessment officers at the Curaçao Gaming Authority characterized the company as an entity that appears to focus on the Turkish market. However, none of these betting sites are licensed in north Cyprus or Turkey and all of them appear on Turkey’s list of banned sites.
Altuner did not respond to a request for comment.
Documents showing the online gaming application by Hasel N.V. and the company’s ownership structure.
What does the law say?
Laws in north Cyprus and Turkey prohibit the organization of unauthorized betting, and criminalizes giving access – through internet or other means – to individuals in north Cyprus or Turkey to betting or games of chance that are organized abroad. In Turkey, legal betting activities are conducted under the Turkish regulator authority – the Spor Toto Organization Presidency – with online sports betting offered via iddaa.com and through electronic retailers;Bilyoner, Misli, Nesine, Birebin, and Oley.
In the northern part of Cyprus, there are five online betting sites licensed by the Turkish Cypriot authorities: Nicosia Betting (Nicosia Betting Ltd.), HititBet (Aydogan Tourism and Leisure Ltd.), Cyprus Sporting Club (Arkın Investment Ltd.), Betcyp (Larsen Technologies Ltd.), and Soli Bet (Golden Century Trading Ltd.).
All foreign-based illegal betting sites not licensed by Turkey’s gaming authority are regularly blacklisted and blocked. Despite hundreds of thousands of sites being blacklisted and blocked annually, illegal betting sites migrate to new addresses within minutes by simply adding new numbers to the beginning or end of their domain names.
Prof. Dr. Bıçak emphasized that while blocking access is a significant measure, it is not sufficient on its own to completely put an end to illegal betting activities.“When access to a website is blocked, the same activities can simply continue through different domain names or alternative technical infrastructures,” Bıçak stated. “Therefore, an effective response must go beyond merely blocking web addresses; it must also involve investigating the individuals organizing these activities, the corporate structures employed, the payment channels used, and the proceeds derived from these illicit operations.”
Screenshots showing some blacklisted and blocked betting sites.
What is #CasinoSecrets?
These documents are part of #CasinoSecrets, a cross-border investigative journalism project that exposes the ownership structures and operations of online betting and gambling sites (https://curacaoleaks.com/). Led by German journalist and hacker Lilith Wittmann, the project analyzes over 2 terabytes of records and information regarding Curaçao-linked betting and gambling companies. A searchable database allows journalists and the public in general to find companies, domain names, licenses, and related documents.
The records include license applications, corporate structures, identity and banking documents, tax returns, declarations of the source of funds, financial statements, and internal regulatory assessments. In a statement issued on September 22, 2026, the Curaçao Gaming Authority confirmed that a user registered under a false identity had gained access to the online licensing portal between December 2025 and September 2026, describing the incident as “a serious breach” and “unacceptable.”
A set-up laid bare
The leaked documents reveal extraordinary details about the names and companies behind gambling and betting sites – platforms that usually present themselves to users merely as a brand with colorful interfaces. They also provide a wealth of information regarding target markets, payment methods, and software providers. For the authorities, the key question now is how to prevent licenses obtained in other countries from being used to offer unlicensed gambling activities in northern Cyprus and Turkey.