Turkey arrests 16 OnlyFans content creators for money laundering

Turkish police have arrested 16 adult content creators linked to OnlyFans, which is banned in the country, on charges of money laundering, prosecutors and media reports said Friday.

The charged individuals were rounded up in a string of raids on Thursday in which investigators seized assets worth 300 million Turkish lira (Ksh.890.1 million), a statement from the Istanbul public prosecutor's office said.

The assets included two companies, 10 properties and 14 vehicles, it said.

"Obscene images and videos were shared in violation of regulations on the platform OnlyFans, which is banned in Turkey, and through posts promoting this platform on other social media," it said, which reportedly referred to the messaging app Telegram.

"There are strong indications the suspects laundered the proceeds of their obscene crimes through various investments," it said, without specifying whether all the assets were acquired with income earned through OnlyFans.

Sixteen of the 25 people named in the warrant had been arrested, notably in Istanbul and the capital Ankara, media reports said, indicating at least five of them are believed to be abroad.

OnlyFans is a subscription-based adult content creator platform which, like other pornographic sites, is blocked in Turkey, although accessible through a VPN.

The site was blocked in June 2023 after a court ruled that the platform contained content incompatible with public morality and family values.