77 detained in Adana-based probe into 'staged traffic accidents'

Turkish Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said 77 of 88 suspects have been detained in an Adana-based investigation into allegations that unjust compensation was obtained from 17 insurance companies through staged traffic accidents between 2022 and 2026.

An operation was carried out against a criminal network allegedly obtaining unjust compensation from insurance companies through staged traffic accidents, as part of an investigation by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said 77 suspects were detained in the operation.

According to Gürlek, the investigation found that unjust compensation had been obtained from 17 insurance companies through staged traffic accidents between 2022 and 2026. Evidence indicated that 76 of the traffic accidents examined had been staged.

The suspects allegedly presented damaged vehicles as if they had been involved in new accidents, reused the same vehicles with different drivers and drew up false accident reports. Reviews of MASAK financial intelligence, phone records, physical surveillance and camera footage produced evidence of a planned division of labor, and money movements worth millions of liras were detected in linked accounts.

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10 suspects still sought

Legal proceedings were launched against 88 suspects in the simultaneous Adana-based operation. Seventy-seven were caught and detained, while one suspect was found to be already in prison. Efforts are continuing to apprehend the remaining 10 fugitive suspects.