Sudi Özkan
Sudi Özkan is a Turkish businessman known for gambling. He is alleged to be a billionaire. He had major operations in Turkey He had is operations in the 1990s before casinos were banned there in 1998,[1] and in 1996 was considered the biggest name in Turkish gambling, ahead of Ömer Lütfü Topal.[2]
He left the country for a time over allegations of tax fraud, returning in 2003 after a deal with the authorities.[3][4][5] The Turkish finance ministry had compiled a 2000-page report concluding that had transferred $680m from Turkey to Switzerland, arising from around 95% of his 18 casinos' daily takings being "off the books". After his Turkish casinos were closed, he was said in 2000 to own "a total $1 billion in cash. He also lives in a small island in the Atlantic Ocean named Saint Maarten and owns eight casinos in four countries, namely, Belize, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia, and seven companies in which he is a 'covert' partner."[6]
References
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 29 January 1998, Countdown begins for casino owners
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 5 July 1996, A dangerous entertainment: Gambling
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 11 October 1999, From the papers
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 3 June 2003, Turkish Press Scanner June 3, 2003
- ↑ Sabah, 29 June 2006, MIT'çiye diyet 10 yıl sonra
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 26 May 2000, From the papers