Gate News message, April 14 — Farul Fatih Ozer, the 29-year-old founder and CEO of defunct cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, was arrested at Istanbul Airport on Thursday, facing fraud and money laundering charges. Ozer allegedly fled to Albania in 2021 with approximately $2 billion in investor funds after Thodex abruptly shut down operations.
Founded in 2017, Thodex served an estimated 400,000 users, of whom 390,000 were active at the time of its collapse. The platform closed without warning in 2021, citing “abnormal fluctuations” in company accounts. Turkish authorities issued an international arrest warrant and detained 62 individuals across eight cities, including some of Ozer’s relatives.
Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to 40,564 years in prison each for Ozer and 20 other defendants, alleging they formed a criminal organization and committed fraud. The indictment claims losses of 356 million Turkish Lira (approximately $24 million), though blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated the figure at $2.6 billion. Following Thodex’s collapse, Turkey’s central bank banned cryptocurrency for payments nationwide.
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