Founder of payment system Papara re-arrested in Turkey days after his release

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office appealed a court decision to release Karslı that had been issued just days earlier. After reviewing the appeal, Istanbul’s 11th High Criminal Court issued a new arrest warrant, and the businessman was detained again.

Karslı remains one of the central figures in the investigation, in which he and several former Papara executives face up to 28 years in prison. Prosecutors allege that the company processed payments linked to unregulated iGaming platforms. The court has not yet reached a final ruling in the case.

A prosecutor successfully appealing a release order within days is not a routine procedural step — it signals how seriously Turkish authorities are treating the underlying case, and it puts other fintech executives operating in the same regulatory environment on notice that a release order is not necessarily the end of the exposure.

In May 2025, Turkish authorities detained Papara’s leadership. Following that, control of the company was transferred to the state, and the asset was later sold to state-owned bank Türkiye Emlak Katılım Bankası for roughly $100 million.

The investigation is part of a broader Turkish crackdown on financial infrastructure that authorities say is used by illegal iGaming operators. Over the past year, other payment services and fintech companies in the country have also come under scrutiny and faced restrictions.

For affiliates and payment processors with any exposure to the Turkish market, this case is a reminder that facilitation liability extends up the chain from the iGaming operator to whoever processes the payments, and that liability does not appear to be going away as this investigation continues to widen across the country’s fintech sector.