Before his death, the financier had informed the authorities that his life was in danger due to his awareness of bribes paid to Turkish politicians by groups allegedly involved in illegal gambling operations. This was reported by Follow the Money on May 2.
Cemil Önal had served as financial director in an organisation linked to the Falyalı clan from Northern Cyprus. Dutch police arrested Önal in December 2023 based on an international warrant issued by Turkey. While in custody, he spoke to journalists about a global online casino syndicate connected to the Falyalı network.
He specifically disclosed that businessman Halil Falyalı and his associate, Mustafa Egemen Şener, had opened H Casino in Minsk as part of a large-scale money laundering operation. In February 2025, BIC journalists were able to confirm key parts of his testimony, including links between Turkish organised crime figures and the owners of H Casino, the multi-million-dollar scale of the laundering scheme, and connections between the casino’s owners and Belarusian security officials – including a bodyguard of Aleksandr Lukashenko.
