Piranha Pays

About Piranha Pays

“What I do think is that deciding together, not only as operators, but together with politicians and stakeholders, that a legal market is very important to get that done. We’re not there yet, and that’s what we’re saying.

“An unregulated market doesn’t become a safe market. People will always gamble, so we have to make sure that we have a strong legal market. And so you also need to give us some room to exist. And of course, we need to be regulated. A regulated market is always better than an illegal market.”

She mentions an ongoing lawsuit against Meta, which will be expected to be very challenging. The VNLOK-filed litigation is seeking to take action against the illegal gambling ads allowed to filter through to consumers across Meta’s various platforms.

What is Piranha Pays?

This latest operation forms part of an ongoing surge in Türkiye’s efforts to curb illegal betting throughout 2026. 

Earlier this year, Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi called illegal betting a “scourge that corrupts society” and emphasised a move towards tougher enforcement.

According to Çiftçi, the rapid growth of digital payments and cryptocurrencies has transformed illegal betting into a major conduit for money laundering. 

About Piranha Pays

A source familiar with Raja’s gambling habits told The Telegraph he was a regular visitor to the upmarket Palm Beach Casino and Colony Club in Mayfair, one of London’s most affluent districts.

Raja was reportedly permitted to access as much as £600,000 ($800,000) a day from his bank account to finance his casino play, according to The Telegraph.

“He would play and play, drink and drink, and if he didn’t lose all his money at the Palm Beach, he would then get in a car and go around the corner to the Colony Club,” the source told the newspaper.