Europe 1 with AFP 11:13 am, September 08, 2023
The founder of cryptocurrency exchange platform Thodex was sentenced Thursday night to 11,196 years in prison in Turkey. Turkish authorities accused Faruk Fatih Özer of fleeing with two billion dollars in assets belonging to nearly 400,000 users.The founder of cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, who had fled Turkey with the assets of his clients, was sentenced Thursday night to 11,196 years in prison, Turkish media reported. Two brothers of Faruk Fatih Özer, the main defendant, were sentenced to an identical sentence by the same Istanbul court, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.
The man reportedly fled with two billion dollars in assets
The founder of the Thodex platform, wanted with an Interpol red notice, was arrested in Albania in August 2022, sixteen months after fleeing Turkey. He was extradited to Turkey last April. Turkish authorities accused Faruk Fatih Özer of fleeing with two billion dollars in assets belonging to nearly 400,000 users.
The platform had suspended its activities overnight after posting a mysterious message stating that it needed five days to process an unspecified outside investment. Thodex had conducted a major advertising campaign to attract investors, promising to offer luxury cars to some of them. The platform had also made spectacular discounts on dogecoin, a cryptocurrency originally parodic but inflated since by the interest - among others - of the multibillionaire and boss of Tesla and X Elon Musk.