Can Holding, a prominent Turkish conglomerate known for its extensive business operations spanning media, education, energy, and consumer electronics, has recently emerged at the center of one of Turkey’s largest anti–money laundering (AML) investigations. Founded by Kemal Can and owned largely by his family, the group operates more than 121 affiliated companies across key sectors including the ownership of major media outlets like Habertürk, Show TV, and Bloomberg HT, and educational institutions such as Istanbul Bilgi University and Doğa Koleji.
The allegations against Can Holding surfaced amid growing evidence of a sophisticated corporate laundering network involving complex financial transactions designed to obscure illicit funds. This case is significant in the global AML landscape as it exemplifies how conglomerates can exploit layered corporate structures, regulatory loopholes, and financial opacity to shield criminal proceeds, thereby challenging both domestic regulatory frameworks and international cooperation on financial crime enforcement.
Background and Context
Before the exposure of financial misconduct, Can Holding was regarded as a powerful force within Turkey’s private sector, expanding steadily through acquisitions and diversification. By the 2020s, it had established significant influence in multiple industries, supported by its complex corporate structure that facilitated significant internal capital flows and investment ventures.
The timeline intensified sharply in September 2025 when Turkish prosecutors launched a comprehensive investigation. This stemmed from reports by Turkey’s Financial Crimes Investigation Board and financial audit units indicating irregular fund movements and tax evasion tactics within Can Holding’s network. These investigations revealed large sums of money, possibly billions of Turkish lira, being circulated through Can Holding’s subsidiaries with no clear legitimate origin, triggering one of the largest asset seizures in Turkish corporate history. The conglomerate’s assets, including prominent media channels and educational facilities, were subsequently placed under trusteeship managed by the Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) to protect public interest.
Mechanisms and Laundering Channels
The financial misconduct centered on several sophisticated laundering mechanisms, primarily involving corporate layering, invoice fraud, and capital infusion through dormant subsidiaries. Can Holding allegedly created a complex web of shell companies and affiliated firms to hide the trail of illicit funds. These firms conducted transactions using fabricated invoices that facilitated tax evasion and legitimized the flow of illegal proceeds.
Additionally, the group exploited Turkey’s expired “Asset Peace” laws, which allowed repatriation of undeclared offshore assets with minimal scrutiny before March 2023. Illicit funds were injected into Can Holding’s dormant companies under the guise of capital increases, effectively ‘cleaning’ the money through internal transactions masked as legitimate business activities.
This case also highlights the use of key holding structures to centralize control while obscuring beneficial ownership, complicating efforts by authorities to trace ultimate asset controllers. The laundering was interwoven with trade-based laundering techniques and the strategic acquisition of high-profile media and education entities to build economic credibility and political influence.
Regulatory and Legal Response
The Turkish prosecution led high-profile raids and asset seizures across 52 provinces, detaining over 40 executives and affiliates. Charges include aggravated fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, forming a criminal organization for profit, and document forgery. Kemal Can and Mehmet Şakir Can, principal owners, were ordered arrested while trustees took control of seized assets.
This case underscored regulatory lapses within Turkey’s AML framework, particularly oversight in identifying real beneficial ownership and monitoring complex corporate layers. Turkish authorities have relied on FATF recommendations on transparency and beneficial ownership disclosure to pursue these proceedings vigorously.
Legal proceedings are ongoing, with evidence from financial auditors supporting the charge that Can Holding deliberately misrepresented transactions and concealed cash flows through fake invoices and internal capital adjustments. This marks one of the broadest enforcement actions in Turkey’s corporate financial crime environment.
Financial Transparency and Global Accountability
The Can Holding scandal exposes systemic weaknesses in financial transparency and corporate disclosure mechanisms within Turkey and poses significant questions about cross-border financial accountability. International regulators and financial institutions noted the difficulty of tracing funds due to opaque ownership structures and insufficient cross-border data sharing.
The scandal has accelerated calls for enhanced reporting standards and cooperation among watchdogs, particularly financial intelligence units and international AML bodies. Lessons from Can Holding stress the importance of transparency in corporate governance and the need for global compliance alignment to prevent misuse of shell companies and offshore jurisdictions.
Economic and Reputational Impact
The repercussions on Can Holding’s financial standing have been immediate and severe. Market confidence in the group plummeted, with stock prices affected and major business partnerships reconsidered. The seizure of key assets and the criminal charges against executives have undermined stakeholder trust and cast a shadow over its diverse business portfolio.
Broader implications extend to market stability in Turkey and signal caution for investors engaged with conglomerates exhibiting complex ownership and cross-sector presence. The case has heightened reputational risks for affiliated financial institutions and highlighted vulnerabilities in the banking sector’s AML controls.
Governance and Compliance Lessons
The Can Holding case reveals critical shortcomings in corporate governance practices, including insufficient internal audit mechanisms and compliance oversight failures that permitted extensive financial malfeasance. There was a clear absence of effective controls to detect and deter invoice fraud, capital injection abuses, and the layering of illicit funds.
Post-investigation, regulatory authorities and Can Holding-appointed trustees have initiated reforms focusing on transparency, enhanced beneficial ownership disclosure, and strengthened internal control frameworks. These measures aim to restore corporate integrity and prevent recurrence of similar misconduct, aligning compliance programs with international AML standards.
Legacy and Industry Implications
The unfolding scandal involving Can Holding serves as a watershed moment for AML enforcement in Turkey and has broader implications for global financial sectors. It highlights the evolving challenges posed by corporate conglomerates in circumventing regulations through complex ownership networks and legal loopholes.
Industry observers view this case as urging stricter monitoring of conglomerate structures and pushing for legislative reforms to close gaps exploited by illicit actors. It also reinforces the necessity for multilateral AML cooperation, advanced forensic audit techniques, and robust compliance cultures within financial institutions and corporate entities.
Can Holding’s involvement in alleged corporate laundering and financial misconduct underscores the critical importance of transparency, accountability, and rigorous AML frameworks in maintaining the integrity of global finance. This case exemplifies how complex conglomerate structures can be manipulated to disguise illicit activities, posing profound challenges for regulators and the international community.
Lessons from this investigation stress continuous improvement of beneficial ownership transparency, strengthened corporate governance, and proactive regulatory enforcement. Enhancing global coordination and adopting a compliance-oriented approach are vital to combating financial crime and safeguarding economic secur
