juin 14, 2025
Home » Murdered man on a terrace in Rijswijk turns out to be Turkish criminal who could have been delivered any time

Murdered man on a terrace in Rijswijk turns out to be Turkish criminal who could have been delivered any time

Murdered man on a terrace in Rijswijk turns out to be Turkish criminal who could have been delivered any time


On a terrace of a hotel in Rijswijk, a prominent Turkish criminal was liquidated on Thursday. It is about Cemil Önal, the former financial man of an illegal gambling empire on the Northern Cyprus controlled by Turkey. He was initially imprisoned in Alphen aan den Rijn, at the request of the Turkish authorities. They accuse him of being the brain behind the liquidation of the Noord-Cypriot Mafia boss Halil Falyali in 2022, for whom he has worked as a bodyguard and accountant for years.

The Turkish authorities asked the Netherlands for Önals extradition in December 2023, according to judgments from the court and the Supreme Court. But he opposed this with the argument that he would not get a fair trial in Turkey. Önal even feared for his life because he would have compromising video images of the bribery of prominent Turkish businessmen and politicians, and had applied for asylum in the Netherlands. But his defense was rejected in March 2024 by the court and in October by the Supreme Court. The Netherlands could deliver him, and his phone with the compromising images, any time. The Minister of Justice only had to make a decision.

The murder in Rijswijk on Thursday took place while it was still light. According to eyewitnesses, the perpetrator, dressed in black, quickly approached his target and pulled the tractor several times from a short distance. Öal would have had personal security, but it is unclear where his security guards were at the time of the attack. Then the perpetrator ran into an adjacent park. The police have launched a large -scale operation to find the perpetrators and the murder weapon, in which dogs are also used.

Illegal gambling sites

Liquidation comes shortly after Önal told the press from his Dutch cell how Falyali earned tens of millions of euros a month with his illegal gambling sites. He spoke with Greek, Cypriot and Maltese journalists from the Organized Crime and Corruption Project (OCCRP) and with media partners from several countries, including Follow the Money. The journalists also received access to confidential documents from the Turkish financial investigation service on Falyali and his illegal gok empirium.

A picture of an internationally branched, criminal company that was managed from Northern Cyprus (according to Önal, the headquarters has now been moved to Dubai). It would consist of companies in different countries and a large number of illegal gambling sites, which mainly focus on Turkey. According to Önal, the sites yielded around $ 80 million every month. Many of these websites were registered as letterbox companies in Curaçao, which is known as Vrijhaven for illegal gambling sites.

The income of these money laundering websites was an operation in itself, writes Follow the Money. In addition, many thousands of ‘catcatchers’ were used: people who, for a small fee, pass through black money through their bank account. In this case it was often people with low incomes, such as students, pensioners and housewives, who were recruited using advertisements on social media. According to the Turkish financial investigation service, the money was eventually converted into crypto coins and transferred to the cryptoportfeuilles of Falyali and ten other stakeholders.

Bribe

Falyali was a man with a huge build, who presented himself as a successful businessman who ran hotels and casinos in Northern Cyprus. The Turkish part of the island is known as a gambling paradise, especially after the casinos in Turkey were banned in the late 1990s. The Republic in the North is only recognized by Turkey and does not comply with the international rules for banks, making it a refuge for fugitive criminals and black money from all over the world.

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Falyali was a pivot in this shadowy world. American justice sued him in 2015 with his brother for money laundering. Nevertheless, Falyali had political connections to the highest level in Northern Cyprus and Turkey. He made no secret of his close relationships with the reigning UBP and was regularly photographed with high government officials. He also did business with the sons of one of President Erdogans close advisers. His murder in 2022 caused shock waves on the island. Around 2,500 people lived with his funeral, including the then Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus.

Accountant Önal says that he paid bribes to members of the government parties in Northern Cyprus and Turkey on behalf of Falyali. According to him, about 15 million dollars a month was involved. According to him, the criminal investigation in Turkey into the gambling empire served two goals: to warn the criminal organization that the government could intervene at any time, and to be sure that the bribes paid by the organization were also in proportion to income.

The compromising video images would serve as blackmail material, which Falyali also used when he was arrested in 2021. From the prison he blackmailed Turkish and Cypriot politicians and officials, according to the complaint. The charges against him were withdrawn and he was released. With the help of the images, Falyali could also have expanded his illegal gambling activities and drug trafficking.

It seems that Önal had the same images. Turkish media suggest that he was released after he has made a statement of 120 pages against the Dutch and American intelligence services.

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