Turkish intelligence arrests Mossad financial network director

Turkish judicial authorities decided to detain Liridon Rexhepi, who is suspected of involvement in espionage activities for the Israeli intelligence agency (Mossad), after his arrest on August 30, while another suspect was released on judicial supervision conditions and banned from leaving the country.

According to Turkish media, investigations conducted by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization revealed that Rexhepi "was running the Mossad's money transfer network in Turkey."

He also transferred money to field agents on instructions from Mossad, who carried out aerial photography using drones, psychological campaigns against Palestinian politicians in Turkey, and gathered intelligence on the battlefield in Syria.

Arrest and confession

Investigations revealed that the Turkish intelligence service closely tracked the financial movements in Rexhepi’s accounts, which included multiple money transfers to field elements in Turkey via the Western Union service, and all of his movements, including suspicious activities in his bank accounts, were under close surveillance by the service.

According to Turkish security sources, the authorities followed Rexibi step by step since he entered Turkey on August 25, 2024, recording all his activities. The Istanbul Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Department and the Turkish Intelligence Service coordinated to arrest him. After the police arrested him, he confessed during the investigation to carrying out financial transfers for the benefit of Mossad, after which he was imprisoned by a court order.

In the context of the investigations supervised by the Public Prosecution Office in Istanbul, it became clear that the accused held meetings with Mossad officials, where he received instructions to carry out operations to collect information and photograph targeted homes in Turkey, and the Turkish authorities began a large-scale operation to track down and arrest the rest of the suspects linked to this network.

Investigations also showed that Mossad relied heavily on money transfers from Kosovo and other countries in Eastern Europe to support its field operatives in Turkey, who used the money to finance their intelligence activities inside Syria.

She explained that these elements were transferring money from Turkey to Syria using the Western Union service, and sometimes through digital currencies.

Turkish intelligence "superiority"

Commenting on the tracking and arrest operation, the former head of Turkish Air Force Intelligence, Gürsel Tokmakoglu, told Al Jazeera Net that his country’s intelligence services continue to confirm their superiority and high ability to focus on their intelligence war with the Israeli Mossad.

He pointed out that tracking, monitoring and arresting the director of the Mossad's financial network in Turkey within just 5 days is an "exceptional achievement and evidence of the readiness of Turkish intelligence and its continued superiority during the past periods."

According to Tokmakoglu, the revelation of this operation at this particular time may be a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday pledged to intensify assassinations of leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) abroad.

Source: Al Jazeera