Turkey’s finance minister says he hopes to seize as much money as he can from unauthorized online gambling operators serving Turkish punters.

Over the weekend, local media outlet Milliyet quoted Turkey’s Finance Minister Naci Agbal estimating that annual turnover from Turkish punters playing on internationally licensed online gambling sites is worth around 40b liras (US $11.4b). Agbal (pictured) said the government is taking steps to ensure the government gets its greedy hands on as much of that filthy lucre as possible.

In July, Turkey announced that it was planning a new two-year crackdown on illegal gambling, be it land-based or online. The country’s financial institutions have been enlisted to carry on this fight “night and day” and Agbal said the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) is coordinating detection of illegal activity with local banks.

Local internet service providers are also doing their bit, while local punters were to receive ominous text messages alerting them that the government was watching their online behavior. Agbal warned younger bettors who may be considering online gambling that they face the full confiscation of their betting bankroll, in addition to other penalties (financial and potentially custodial).