

Fake Turkish Company Scam: How Foreign Investors Can Recover Money Through Criminal Proceedings 2026
Foreign investor sent money to a fake company in Turkey? Learn how to file a criminal complaint, preserve evidence, trace Turkish bank accounts, identify fraud suspects, seek asset protection and pursue recovery in 2026.
A foreign investor may believe they are investing in a legitimate Turkish company only to discover that the business, investment opportunity, representatives or corporate documents were fake. The fraud may involve a nonexistent company, impersonation of a genuine Turkish business, fabricated trade registry documents, a fake investment project, forged contracts or a real company being used as a vehicle for fraudulent representations.
By the time the victim discovers the problem, substantial money may already have been transferred to a Turkish bank account, personal account, related company, cryptocurrency platform or another country.
The first objective should therefore not simply be to prove that somebody lied. The investor should attempt to preserve the entire money and evidence trail.
In Turkey, criminal investigations are conducted under the authority of the public prosecutor, who may collect evidence directly or through police and gendarmerie. Victims may request collection of evidence and, through counsel and subject to procedural restrictions, exercise additional rights concerning the investigation file.
For foreign investors, the practical strategy is:
Stop further payments → Preserve the investment evidence → Verify whether the company actually exists → Identify every recipient account → Trace the money → Identify the individuals behind the scheme → File a detailed criminal complaint → Request appropriate investigative and protective measures → Coordinate criminal proceedings with money-recovery remedies.
There is no single factual model.
A fake-company investment scam may involve:
The distinction between a nonexistent company, an impersonated genuine company, and a real company allegedly used for fraud is extremely important.
Foreign investors should not assume that discovering a genuine company registration means the transaction was legitimate.
A company can genuinely exist while individuals allegedly use it to make false representations.
For example:
Company exists → Investor receives genuine company details → Fraudster promises nonexistent project → Investor transfers money → Funds immediately move elsewhere.
The criminal investigation should therefore examine the actual transaction rather than stopping at corporate registration.
Assume a foreign investor is contacted about an investment opportunity in Turkey.
The investor receives:
The investor transfers €500,000.
Three months later:
The first questions should be:
Who received the €500,000?
Who controlled that account?
Where did the money go next?
These questions can be more important for recovery than the appearance of the website.
Fraudsters frequently demand additional payments after the original investment.
Examples include:
Do not send additional money merely because the fraudster promises that the original investment will be released afterward.
Foreign investors who have already lost substantial money may later be contacted by people claiming:
“We recovered your funds.”
“Pay us 10% and we will release them.”
“Your money is frozen by a Turkish authority.”
Verify such claims independently.
A victim can be targeted twice: first by the investment fraud and later by a fake recovery operation.
The bank transfer is one of the most important pieces of evidence.
Preserve:
Do not rely solely on a screenshot from mobile banking.
Obtain the underlying transaction records from your bank where possible.
If the fraud has just been discovered, contact the bank through its official channels and report the suspected fraud.
Ask what fraud-reporting, recall or preservation procedures are available.
A bank transfer recall is not guaranteed to recover the money, especially where funds have already left the beneficiary account.
Nevertheless, speed can matter.
Keep:
Do not delete embarrassing messages.
A fraud investigation needs the complete chronology.
Where possible, preserve:
Original email rather than screenshot
Original PDF rather than photograph
Original voice message rather than transcription
Complete conversation rather than selected messages
Original files can provide information that screenshots omit.
Determine whether:
Fraudsters can use information copied from a legitimate company to create a convincing impersonation.
For example:
ABC Energy Investment A.Ş.
may be impersonated as:
ABC Energy Investments A.Ş.
Similarly, fraudsters may use:
Verify each element separately.
A foreign investor may receive professional-looking emails from an address that differs by only one character from the genuine company’s domain.
Preserve the original email and available header information.
Do not continue communicating solely through the contact information supplied by the suspected fraudster when attempting independent verification.
The recipient account may belong to:
Do not assume that the account holder is necessarily the person who designed the fraud.
The investigation should distinguish:
Who deceived the investor?
Who supplied the IBAN?
Who controlled the account?
Who withdrew or transferred the funds?
Who ultimately benefited?
Suppose:
Investor → Company A: €500,000
Then:
Company A → Person B: €200,000
Company A → Company C: €150,000
Company A → Crypto platform: €100,000
Company A → Cash withdrawal: €50,000
The investigation should not stop merely because the original payment entered a genuine corporate account.
The onward financial trail can identify the economic beneficiaries.
The key issue is whether the evidence establishes the statutory elements of the applicable fraud offence.
A commercial investment that later fails is not automatically fraud.
Criminal analysis becomes materially different where the investor alleges that deceptive representations were used from the beginning to obtain money or another economic benefit.
Potentially important allegations include:
The criminal characterization must follow the evidence.
This distinction is essential.
Suppose a foreign investor invests €1 million in a genuine Turkish technology company.
The company fails after one year.
The investment becomes worthless.
That does not itself establish fraud.
Business risk can result in complete loss.
The investigation should ask whether the investor was intentionally deceived about existing or material facts in a manner satisfying the applicable criminal provisions.
A stronger fraud scenario may exist where:
These facts can collectively support a different inference from an ordinary failed investment.
A professional-looking contract does not guarantee legitimacy.
Examine:
If the contract itself appears fabricated, preserve the original electronic version.
Foreign investors may receive allegedly official-looking:
Do not assume authenticity merely because a document contains stamps, seals or QR codes.
Where forgery is suspected, the criminal complaint should identify the document and explain how it was used in the investment scheme.
A person may claim:
“I am the CEO.”
“I represent the shareholders.”
“I am authorized to receive the investment.”
Verify the person’s actual relationship with the company.
Preserve:
The identity document itself may also be stolen or fabricated.
Impersonation can make the scam especially convincing.
The genuine director may also be a victim.
The investigation should therefore distinguish:
Identity used in communications
from
person actually controlling the communications.
Technical and financial evidence can become essential.
The Ministry of Justice states that complaints may be made to law-enforcement authorities or public prosecutor’s offices. Its victim-information guidance also recommends describing the incident clearly, identifying the suspected person where known, specifying the evidence and attaching available documents.
For a major foreign-investment fraud, a structured written complaint is generally far more useful than a vague allegation.
A strong complaint should identify:
The objective is to give the prosecutor a clear investigative roadmap.
For example:
5 January 2026: Initial contact.
12 January 2026: Investment presentation received.
20 January 2026: Video meeting.
1 February 2026: Contract signed.
5 February 2026: €250,000 transferred.
18 February 2026: Second €250,000 transferred.
March 2026: Investor requests project update.
April 2026: Representative stops responding.
May 2026: Investor discovers project does not exist.
A chronology can make a complicated fraud much easier to understand.
| Date | Amount | Sender | Recipient | Stated Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05.02.2026 | €250,000 | Investor | Company A | Investment |
| 18.02.2026 | €250,000 | Investor | Company A | Capital payment |
Then identify any known onward transfers separately.
Once the competent authorities learn of a suspected offence, the public prosecutor directs the investigation and can collect relevant evidence directly or through law enforcement. The Ministry of Justice identifies records, reports, victim statements, suspect statements and witness statements among the types of evidence gathered during an investigation.
Depending on the facts and legal requirements, relevant investigative evidence may include banking, corporate, digital and witness evidence.
The Ministry of Justice’s victim guidance states that under Criminal Procedure Code Article 234, victims and complainants have the right during the investigation to request collection of evidence. It also identifies rights concerning copies of documents and review of investigation materials through counsel, subject to the statutory conditions and investigation restrictions.
This makes a properly prepared evidence-request section especially useful in substantial investment-fraud complaints.
A criminal complaint should identify:
Investigators can then evaluate what banking evidence should lawfully be obtained.
Sometimes the first recipient claims:
“I only let someone use my account.”
That does not by itself resolve criminal responsibility.
The investigation should establish:
Account ownership is important evidence, but it should not automatically be equated with authorship of the entire fraud.
If fraud proceeds were withdrawn in cash, timing can matter.
Potential evidence may include:
Camera evidence should be addressed promptly because it should not be assumed to remain available indefinitely.
Fraud proceeds may be transferred to a crypto-asset platform.
Preserve any available:
A wallet address does not automatically identify the human controlling it, but blockchain evidence can help reconstruct the movement of assets.
Money may move:
Turkey → Another country
or:
Turkey → Crypto platform → Foreign wallet.
Cross-border tracing can require additional legal cooperation and depends on the jurisdiction, institution and evidence sought.
The domestic Turkish banking trail should still be preserved first.
Potentially, but not automatically.
Turkish criminal procedure contains protective measures that may apply to qualifying assets where the statutory conditions are satisfied. The existence of a criminal complaint alone does not mean every asset owned by the suspect can immediately be frozen.
A request is stronger when the complaint demonstrates a specific financial connection:
Victim payment → Recipient account → Onward transfer → Identifiable asset.
This distinction is extremely important.
Even where money or property is secured during a criminal investigation:
Seizure does not automatically mean immediate payment to the foreign investor.
Seizure is a procedural protective measure.
The ultimate treatment and return of property depend on the applicable procedural and substantive rules and the facts of the case.
Compare two cases.
Investor sends €500,000.
Money remains identifiable in the recipient account.
Investor sends €500,000.
Within hours the money is divided among 20 accounts, withdrawn in cash and partly converted to crypto-assets.
The recovery challenge in Case B is substantially greater.
That is why early intervention matters.
Suppose the suspected fraud trail shows:
Investor → Fraud company → Director → Real estate purchase.
That financial connection may become relevant to asset-tracing and potential protective-measure analysis.
Preserve the banking chronology and any available evidence concerning the subsequent purchase.
The same approach applies:
Victim funds → Recipient → Vehicle purchase.
Do not simply state:
“The suspect owns an expensive car.”
Show the transaction sequence if evidence permits.
Fraud proceeds may be mixed with other funds.
Example:
Account already contains TRY 3 million.
Foreign investor sends TRY 10 million.
Several transfers then leave the account.
Tracing becomes more complex, but not necessarily impossible.
The investigation should reconstruct the timing and movement of funds carefully.
Suppose the foreign investor sent money to a Turkish company with five directors.
Do not automatically accuse all five.
Determine:
Who communicated with the investor?
Who controlled the account?
Who approved the transaction?
Who transferred the proceeds?
Who benefited?
Criminal responsibility should be individualized.
Owning 60% of the recipient company does not automatically prove participation in fraud.
Conversely, a minority shareholder who personally organized the scheme may face substantial exposure.
Actual conduct matters more than title alone.
Investigate the corporate systems objectively.
Ask:
Do not accept or reject the “rogue employee” explanation without evidence.
A pattern involving several investors can be highly relevant.
If multiple victims were allegedly approached using:
preserve that information and identify the other victims if lawfully known.
Each victim’s evidence should nevertheless be documented individually.
Do not wait indefinitely for communication to resume.
Preserve:
The fact that a suspect becomes unreachable does not itself prove fraud, but it may form part of the chronology.
Preserve available evidence promptly.
Useful material may include:
Do not rely on the website remaining online.
Foreign investors can be shown photographs or videos of a factory that does not belong to the company.
Preserve:
Then compare the claimed facility with independently verifiable corporate information.
A fraudulent company may offer:
In addition to the money trail, preserve:
A criminal complaint may need to be coordinated with real-estate remedies depending on the transaction.
Foreign investors may be shown alleged:
Preserve every claimed:
The absence or falsity of a supposedly existing regulatory asset can become central evidence.
Suppose the investor transferred €1 million for 25% of a Turkish company but never received the shares.
That is not automatically criminal fraud.
Determine:
A contractual breach and criminal fraud are not the same thing.
A more serious situation may arise where the investor receives fabricated:
Preserve the originals.
The investigation may then involve both fraud allegations and document offences.
Avoid messages such as:
“Pay me today or I will have you arrested.”
Preserve professional communication and seek legal advice.
Aggressive private recovery attempts can complicate an otherwise strong case.
Victims sometimes become desperate to identify the perpetrators.
Do not commission:
Identify evidence you cannot lawfully obtain and ask the investigating authorities to consider lawful collection.
Foreign nationality does not prevent a victim from reporting suspected criminal conduct in Turkey.
The Ministry of Justice states that complaints can be made to police, gendarmerie or public prosecutor’s offices.
For foreign investors, representation by counsel can be particularly useful where the victim resides outside Turkey and the evidence involves Turkish companies, banks and corporate records.
The Criminal Procedure Code provides for an interpreter where a victim cannot sufficiently express themselves in Turkish, including at the investigation stage under the statutory framework.
Foreign investors should nevertheless preserve original-language communications because translations should not replace the underlying evidence.
The prosecutor evaluates the allegations and directs collection of relevant evidence.
After the investigation, the prosecutor may ultimately decide that prosecution is warranted or issue a decision not to prosecute. The Ministry of Justice’s victim guidance explains this basic investigation structure and the victim’s procedural rights.
The quality and organization of the initial complaint can therefore matter substantially.
Turkish criminal procedure provides a mechanism for challenging a decision not to prosecute.
The Ministry of Justice’s current victim guidance states that the complainant may object according to the statutory procedure and identifies a fifteen-day period from notification in its public guidance. Because procedural deadlines are critical and may be affected by the applicable current text and circumstances, the specific decision and current rule should be reviewed immediately upon service.
Do not leave a non-prosecution decision unanswered until the deadline is about to expire.
A criminal complaint can be extremely important, but no lawyer can responsibly guarantee that stolen investment money will be recovered.
Recovery depends on factors such as:
The earlier the money trail is reconstructed, the better the practical position may be.
For 2026, foreign investors should think in terms of six connected evidence chains.
Website → Representative → Phone → Email → Actual person
Claimed company → Genuine registration → Actual directors → Real business activity
Representation → Document → Investor reliance → Payment
Investor → Turkish account → Subsequent accounts → Ultimate beneficiary
Fraud proceeds → Real estate / vehicle / company / crypto / cash
Email → Messaging → Website → Device/account evidence → Transaction instructions
The criminal complaint should connect these chains instead of merely stating:
“I was scammed.”
Yes. Foreign nationality does not prevent reporting suspected criminal conduct. Complaints may be submitted to law-enforcement authorities or public prosecutor’s offices.
Potentially, but recovery is not guaranteed. Criminal proceedings can help identify suspects, obtain evidence and trace assets, while additional recovery measures may also need to be evaluated.
Usually the complete chain connecting the deceptive representations to the payment: contracts, messages, emails, company information, bank-transfer records and evidence concerning the recipient.
A genuine registration does not automatically make the investment genuine. Investigators should determine whether the people contacting you actually represented the company and whether the promised transaction or project existed.
Banking evidence can become an important part of a criminal investigation where obtained through the applicable lawful procedures. Provide the prosecutor with the exact account, amount, date and transfer information available to you.
No. Protective measures require their own statutory conditions. Filing a criminal complaint alone does not automatically freeze every asset owned by a suspect.
Cross-border tracing may still be relevant, although obtaining foreign evidence or measures depends on the jurisdictions and procedures involved. Preserve the Turkish-side banking trail immediately.
Preserve exchange transfers, wallet addresses, transaction hashes and any platform information available. A wallet address can assist tracing but does not by itself establish the identity of its controller.
Yes. Ministry of Justice guidance identifies requesting collection of evidence as one of the victim’s rights during the investigation under Criminal Procedure Code Article 234.
A decision not to prosecute can be challenged through the procedure provided by the Criminal Procedure Code. Because the applicable deadline is critical, the decision should be reviewed immediately when served.
A fake-company investment fraud can move quickly. Within hours or days, money may pass from a Turkish company account into personal accounts, related businesses, cash withdrawals, foreign transfers or crypto-assets.
For that reason, an effective response should focus simultaneously on evidence preservation, suspect identification and financial tracing.
Fırat Fesih Kaya Law Office provides legal assistance to foreign investors, foreign shareholders and international businesses dealing with suspected investment fraud and fake-company schemes in Turkey.
Lawyer Fırat Fesih Kaya assists foreign clients with criminal complaints, investment-fraud investigations, Turkish bank-account tracing, fake company documents, forged contracts, corporate impersonation, digital evidence preservation and coordinated criminal and asset-recovery strategies.
Early intervention can be particularly important where substantial investment funds have recently entered Turkish bank accounts and there is a risk of rapid onward transfer.
Phone: +90 312 434 22 22
Mobile: +90 532 769 22 22
Email: info@firatfesihkaya.av.tr
Address: Mevlana Boulevard No:221, Yıldırım Tower No:148, 06520 Balgat, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
This publication is provided for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Whether an unsuccessful investment constitutes criminal fraud, which protective measures may be available and whether money can ultimately be recovered depend on the specific representations, payment trail, suspects, assets and evidence in the individual case.