The man behind the Turkish crypto exchange Thodex has been sentenced to prison for 11,196 years after several years on the run.
Cryptocurrency has increasingly been used in Turkey as an alternative to the lira. The picture is from a crypto exchange in Istanbul. Photo: OZAN KOSE / AFPPublished: Published:
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Faruk Fatih Ozer (29) and his two siblings have been sentenced in a Turkish court to mildly long prison sentences for money laundering, fraud and organized crime. The BBC reports on Friday evening.
According to AFP, the prosecution had requested that Ozer be sentenced to 40,562 years in prison.
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Faruk Fatih Ozer (29) was extradited to Turkey in June, after being internationally wanted through Interpol. The picture is from a passport control in Istanbul in 2021. Photo: HANDOUT / AFP / NTB
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Turks began using cryptocurrency as an alternative to the Turkish lira, which has fallen sharply in value over the past two years. Thodex was one of Turkey’s largest crypto exchanges until it collapsed in 2021. The public prosecutor in Istanbul began investigating Thodex after many users were no longer able to access their funds.
Ozer went into hiding, but was arrested in Albania last year after being internationally wanted through Interpol. After a long legal process, he was extradited to Turkey in June.
According to the Turkish prosecutor’s office, the Thodex investors’ total loss is estimated at 356 million lira. According to the prosecution, this amount was worth around 43 million dollars when the crypto exchange collapsed. Due to rampant inflation and currency collapse in Turkey, the same amount is now worth around $13 million.
According to state Turkish media, Ozer is said to have stated that he “would not have acted so amateurishly” if he had criminal intentions.
2023-09-08 18:27:30
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