Bertan
Jul 18, 2026
The "I Only Gave My IBAN" Defense is Invalid
According to Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) precedents, individuals who allow others to use their bank accounts or IBANs—whether in exchange for a fee or as a personal favor—are charged with complicity (criminally aiding and abetting) if fraud is committed through that account.
Key Legal Implications of This Ruling:
Assumption of Risk: The high court rules that an account holder should reasonably foresee that their account could be used for illegal activities (such as fraud, illegal betting, or money laundering) if a third party requests to use it.
Criminal Liability: Ignorance is not a defense in these cases. The account holder is legally treated as an accomplice or facilitator to Qualified Fraud (under the Turkish Penal Code), which carries severe prison sentences and heavy judicial fines.
Financial Accountability: Since the victim's money is transferred directly to the designated IBAN, the account holder becomes the primary official target for both criminal prosecution and financial compensation lawsuits.
12th Judicial Package, TPC Article 158 (Qualified Fraud), and IBAN rental risks, formatted for professional clarity and scannability:
In recent judicial packages (especially within the scope of breaking the perception of impunity and combating cyber/financial crimes) and high court rulings, the act of renting out an IBAN or allowing someone else to use a bank account is treated with severe sanctions under Qualified Fraud (TPC Art. 158), one of the heaviest offenses in the Turkish Penal Code.
The legal dimension of this issue, what the new regulations bring, and the risks you may encounter can be summarized as follows:
1. The Relationship Between TPC 158 (Qualified Fraud) and IBAN Usage
Article 158/1-f of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) defines committing fraud "by utilizing information systems, banks, or credit institutions as tools" as an aggravated (qualified) form of the crime. In online fraud cases (such as fake advertisements, pretending to be a public official, or crypto/stock market scams), the owner of the IBAN to which the victim sends the money is directly drawn into the crime.
The "I Only Gave My IBAN" Defense is Invalid: According to Court of Cassation (Yargıtay) precedents, individuals who allow others to use their bank accounts or IBANs—whether in exchange for a fee or as a personal favor—are charged with complicity if fraud is committed through that account.
Legal Status: Depending on the nature of the case, the account holder is included in the indictment as a "principal perpetrator" (co-offender) or, at best, as an "aider and abettor" (TPC Art. 39). Courts generally operate under the logic of eventual intent (olası kast), ruling that "anyone who hands over their account to someone else should foresee that it will be used for illegal activities."
2. What Do the 12th Judicial Package and Recent Regulations Bring?
Financial crimes and cyber fraud hold a prominent place in the legislative packages prepared by the Ministry of Justice to eliminate the perception of impunity and accelerate trial processes:
Acceleration of Investigations and Prosecutions: Processes involving virtual patrols, MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) tracking, and the analysis of bank account movements are now coordinated much faster.
Probation and Sentence Execution Regulations: One of the main focus points of the new packages is ensuring that individuals convicted of crimes that directly disrupt public peace—such as qualified fraud—actually serve time in prison. The boundaries for the "Suspension of the Pronouncement of the Judgment" (HAGB) or probation are being narrowed for these types of crimes.
Heavy Penalties for the Account Holder: An account holder prosecuted and found guilty under TPC Article 158/1-f is sentenced to 4 to 10 years of imprisonment and a judicial fine not less than twice the benefit obtained from the crime. New regulations make it much harder for these sentences to be suspended, deferred, or commuted to fines.
3. Precautions Against the "IBAN Rental" Trap
Advertisements on social media or messaging applications promising "Rent your IBAN for a daily profit of 1,000 TL to 5,000 TL" are entirely tactics used by organized crime syndicates to lure individuals into their networks.
⚠️ Important Warning: Never allow a friend or a stranger to transfer money through your account based on excuses like "My account is blocked" or "I hit my daily transaction limit, let's use your IBAN." If the source of the incoming money is linked to a fraudulent activity, you will instantly become a primary suspect, and all your bank accounts will be blocked.