ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Turkish authorities targeted 25 suspects and seized around $6.9 million in assets in an operation investigating alleged money laundering tied to proceeds from sharing “obscene content” on the banned OnlyFans platform, Istanbul’s chief prosecutor said Friday.

A coordinated operation on Friday, targeted 25 individuals across eight provinces in the country, including Istanbul, Ankara, and Antalya, the prosecutor said, adding that assets worth 300 million Turkish liras ($6.9 million) were seized, including two companies, 10 properties and 14 vehicles.

According to media reports, 16 of the 25 suspects were detained, with some believed to be abroad.

The suspects guided people from open social media platforms to the banned OnlyFans and private Telegram channels, according to the prosecutor.

“It has been determined that the suspects' posts on publicly accessible platforms contained obscene content, and that they invested the income they obtained from these posts in movable/immovable assets, bitcoin, gold, or by opening term deposit accounts at banks,” read a statement by the prosecutor, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

“These posts, which include images and videos, indicate that they offer access to this private content for a fee, either through Only Fans or via private channels like Telegram,” it added.

OnlyFans, a subscription-based platform mostly known for pornographic content, has been banned in Turkey since June 2023 “on the grounds that it contained content incompatible with public morals and the Turkish family structure,” although users still access banned content in the country through VPNs.