Updated on 10/31 at 4:34 p.m.: In a Twitlonger posted on Sunday, Alihan “deNc” İpek, the brother of Acend VALORANT player Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek, denied his participation in a scheme to launder money through Twitch. He claimed to have earned no money by doing so, and that he served as an intermediary between those behind the scandal and friends who wanted to participate. Multiple sources told Upcomer that he had been involved.
“There’s no need to blame someone to cover up what they’ve done,” deNc wrote. “Everyone is of a certain maturity and age. I didn’t force anyone to do anything, and Mehemet’s channel revenues are in plain view. If anyone can prove otherwise, they can take the matter to court.”
The story, which was originally reported by Esports Talk content creator Jake Lucky, reveals details regarding credit card fraud within the Turkish VALORANT scene.
Riot Turkey is expected to be issuing bans to several Valorant pros involved in the Twitch money laundering scandal
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) October 31, 2021
“Riot Turkey is expected to be issuing bans to several VALORANT pros involved in the Twitch money laundering scandal,” Lucky said on Twitter. Upcomer confirmed his information with sources Sunday.
Supposed communication between one of the alleged scammers and deNc was also documented via Discord and released on Twitter. In the message, the scammer informed deNc that he was donating bits to a streamer, according to a rough translation. “When I send the bits, they will arrange it,” the message said.
The scheme involves Turkish streamers receiving payouts through Twitch from stolen credit cards, according to sources. The cash available on the credit card was transferred to the streamer through bits or donations and then the streamer typically provided a payout back to the original sender, while the streamer pocketed some of the money for themselves.
The scandal allegedly involves hundreds of content creators in Turkey and has reached the government level, with the deputy of the Republican People’s Party issuing a statement condemning the act and implying action against . Players and content creators involved could potentially face legal ramifications if they are caught.
A MASSIVE Twitch scandal is ongoing in the Turkish scene involving dozens of esports players and streamers money laundering through bit donations
After Twitch’s massive payout leak, people noticed several smaller streamers making absurd amounts of money from bits (1/2)
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) October 30, 2021
Earlier Sunday, former BBL Esports players Semih “LEGOO” Selvi and Ekrem “Logicman” Aydın admitted they took part in the scheme and left BBL. He made around $2,000, according to a translation of the statement he released on Twitter that was confirmed by a translator for Upcomer. Logicman said he “was a fool” for taking part in the scheme and claimed he was told the transfers were legal; Logicman also said he will not be streaming on Twitch anymore following his involvement.
LEGOO issued an apology in his TwitLonger and claimed he was also misled into thinking the bit transfers were legal.
“I was told, ‘Bro, I have arranged a very good job for you. They will watch advertisements from America, earn bits and send them to you, then we will split it between us, it’s completely legal,'” LEGOO said. “At that time, I was not earning any money from streaming or esports. And at that time, I was running the coffee house and truck for 12-13 hours a day. Is it that easy to make money? I jumped at the offer like an idiot and said ok.
“Later on, when I realized that the bits were coming anonymously, I became suspicious and wanted to quit. But since I was on the rise at the time and the person who got me into it had leverage on me, even though I told the person many times that I didn’t want to continue, I was forced to do it.”
If there are players that compete in the EMEA VALORANT region found to be involved in the scheme, Riot Games will likely punish the players. The company has yet to release information regarding the money laundering investigation at the time of publication, however.
Twitch and Riot Games both did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
This story is ongoing and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Published: Oct 31, 2021 03:11 pm