The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) has collaborated with Poland's leading news channel TVN24 and investigative publications from Poland, Ukraine, and Cyprus (Frontstory.pl, NGL.media, CIReN) to publish an investigation into the European iGaming business of Turkish entrepreneur Fedlan Kılıçarslan.
The investigation is based on corporate and licensing documents, testimonies from former employees, and law enforcement data. Key findings from the investigation include:
In November 2025, the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for Kılıçarslan on suspicion of facilitating illegal gambling and advertising it, leading Interpol to issue a red notice. Turkish prosecutors linked Kılıçarslan to five websites associated with the MeritKing brand.
Kılıçarslan's Warsaw-based IT company, FAF Global, was reportedly engaged in telemarketing for the blocked brands MeritKing, MadridBet, and KingRoyal without a Polish license for gambling advertising.
According to a former employee, each time a site was blocked, a new mirror site with a similar name would immediately appear. Players were notified of the new address via SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp. From 2018 to 2023, Turkey blocked over 100 domain variants of MadridBet and MeritKing, with the number of mirror domain names for MadridBet skyrocketing from 10 to at least 940.
The Warsaw Prosecutor's Office confirmed an investigation into Kılıçarslan and related companies for money laundering. A source within law enforcement reported the freezing of Kılıçarslan's and FAF Global's bank accounts.
In March, Kılıçarslan was arrested in Barcelona on unrelated charges, his passport was confiscated, and he was banned from leaving Spain.
In May, FAF Global changed its name to Oliwka Covenant Technologies and claimed to have no business ties with MeritKing, MadridBet, or KingRoyal. The new owner is Semih Saçlı, a former board member of Kılıçarslan's charity fund.
According to their own data, the websites MeritKing and KingRoyal are owned by Exelogix, a company from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, with undisclosed owners. Two sites hold licenses from Comoros and the autonomous island of Anjouan, which EU regulators do not recognize.
Investigations are ongoing in both countries. Oliwka Covenant Technologies (formerly FAF Global) has informed journalists about a strategic shift to the Euromatch brand, a trademark previously registered by Kılıçarslan's Ukrainian company, and a review of its client portfolio.
FAF Global CEO Utku Sarper stated in April that the company's business in Poland is legal, as it only provides telemarketing services to clients, and that the websites MeritKing and KingRoyal are managed by clients who hold licenses for their operation.
According to Warsaw gambling law attorney Dominika Bura, confirming marketing activities on behalf of these brands may indicate a violation of the Fiscal Penal Code of Poland.