Founder of Thodex Crypto Exchange and His Family Sentenced to 11,196 Years in Prison

Faruk Fatih Zezer, founder of the Thodex crypto exchange. (Photo; Doc. InsideBitcoin)

JAKARTA - Faruk Fatih Özer, founder of the Turkish crypto exchange Thodex which suddenly collapsed two years ago, has finally been sentenced by the court. Reports from local media revealed that Faruk, along with his sister Serap Özer and brother Güven Özer, were sentenced to 11,196 years, 10 months and 15 days in prison.

Apart from that, the court also imposed a judicial fine of 135 million lira (around 5 million US dollars or the equivalent of Rp. 76.7 billion) when this case was closed. Thodex is one of the largest crypto exchanges in Türkiye. Founded by Faruk in 2017, the exchange quickly gained popularity and in four years had attracted around 400,000 users.

Thodex's rapid success was largely due to the Turks' urgent need for crypto as a hedge against high inflation and the sharp decline in the value of the lira.

The Thodex crypto exchange suddenly closed its services in April 2021. At that time, more than 2 billion US dollars (IDR 30.7 trillion) in crypto assets had been deposited by customers on the platform. Faruk fled Turkey after the stock exchange closed and hid in Albania until he was finally arrested by Interpol in August 2022.

In April 2023, he returned to Turkey and faced seven charges, including establishing an organization with malicious intent and laundering the proceeds of crime.

During the initial stages of the investigation, 83 people, including Faruk's brothers and several Thodex executives, were detained for questioning. However, only 21 of them remained at the end of the trial, carrying a possible sentence of up to 40,564 years in prison.

Currently, the 9th Anatolian Serious Criminal Court, Turkiye, has announced the final verdict. In this decision, 16 of the 21 defendants were acquitted, while Faruk, his brothers, and four top executives were previously sentenced to prison. Four of them were acquitted because the evidence was not strong.