Take Away Investor Funds, Crypto Exchange Boss Thodex Faruk Fatih Sued 40 Thousand Years In Prison

Faruk Fetih Ozer was sentenced to more than 40,000 years in prison for stealing money from crypto investors on Thodex. (photo: Cumhuriyet)

JAKARTA – Faruk Fatih Ozer is the founder and CEO of the Turkish crypto exchange, Thodex. Prosecutors charged Ozer along with twenty others with prison terms of up to 40,564 years.

According to local news report Hurriyet, after the crypto trading platform Thodex closed, the defendants were suspected of setting up a criminal organization, fraud and money laundering proceeds from illicit activities.

Previously, in 2021, Ozer fled with investors' funds on the Thodex crypto exchange. The 28-year-old man is wanted by Interpol and the Turkish police.

Authorities hunted for Ozer in various countries, but failed to find him. The only clue is a videotape of Ozer at Istanbul airport last year.

The Thodex crypto exchange he founded is one of the popular crypto trading platforms in Turkey. The popularity of Thodex skyrocketed during the booming days of cryptocurrency in the world.

Investors who register on Thodex intend to protect their savings from the threat of lira inflation. At that time Thodex had 400,000 registered investors on the platform. Not long after, Thodex became inaccessible to its users.

Local media reported that Ozer fled to Albania with investors' money of US$2 billion (equivalent to Rp. 28.6 trillion). In April 2021, while in an unknown location, Ozer issued a statement that he promised to pay his users damages so they could return to Turkey for trial.

CryptoPotato reports the Turkish indictment citing a loss of 356 million lira (24 million US dollars). However, according to estimates in the Chainalysis report published in January, the figure should be much higher – US$2.6 billion.

“We should note that approximately 90% of the total value lost due to rug pulls in 2021 can be attributed to one fraudulent centralized exchange, Thodex, whose CEO disappeared as soon as the exchange ceased the ability of users to withdraw funds,” according to the blockchain forensics firm. Chainalysis.

After Thodex collapsed and Ozer was caught, Turkish authorities also detained more than 60 people to investigate fraud on another crypto trading platform, Vebitcoin which suddenly stopped operating. In addition to Thodex and Vebitcoin, in October the crypto exchange Coinzo also reportedly stopped its services.