Why were 40 Twitch Streamers Arrested? All Charges Explained:
In the previous year, the Twitch leak has some unforeseen outcomes, and one of the most noticeable was how it exposed an accused scam emerging certain Turkish streamers and money-laundering. The scandal was big sufficient to grab the eye of Turkish politician Gursel Tekin, the vice president of the Republican People’s Party, who in the month of November called on the country’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board to charge an investigation.
As per the news of Daily Sabah which has been reported that on Tuesday, 4th January 2022, Turkish police apprehended 40 people in an operation against a gang alleged of running a scam on a famous live streaming service named Twitch.
40 Twitch Streamers Arrested
Besides it, four other suspects remain at large after big operations in eleven provinces. The operation was the outcome of a probe by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office which is in Istanbul and was an apex of accusations over long-running fraud on the international platforms of the edition of Turkish. Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the Turkish government and unspecified documents and “digital materials” was captured as part of the raids.
Suspects are alleged of sending bits, a virtual currency that is used in Twitch to financially endorse streamers through purloin credit cards. The report of Demiroren News Agency (DHA) stated that some suspects had collaborated with streamers who were cognizant that the bit payments were made using purloin credit cards and took their share. Bits can’t be changed or converted to real money but the scammers are alleged of receiving payment in real money from streamers in exchange for massive troves of bits they sent.
This scheme was reportedly used for money laundering by groups of criminals. The news website, Daily Sabah had previously fallen light on the scam which was brought to the agenda of the parliament after the disclosures by a famous streamer going by the nickname of Jahrein. Many popular Twitch stars from the county have been connected to the scandal however the Turkish authorities have not yet named those apprehended in these latest raids. DHA reported that some of the suspects were minors.
When the scheme was exposed many streamers gloved to what had been going on; BBL Legoo, a streamer, and Valorant pro accepted to take part in the scheme in a Twitlonger post in which he stated that roughly was $4000 was sent to his channel. (His account on Twitter has since been suspended). He stated that he was approached by an ex-friend with a proposal of making some extra money.
