Crypto Exchange Founder Fled With $2 Billion Busted, Faces 40,000 Years in Jail
The founder of Turkish cryptocurrency exchange giant Thodex, who fled the country last year with $2 billion, has been arrested. He currently faces approximately 40,564 years in prison.
Last year, various cryptocurrency-related scams amounted to $7.7 billion. Some scammers stole thousands of dollars. Some ended up in the millions. Still, perhaps the most notorious crypto scammer of all time is Faruk FatihÖzer, the founder of Turkish crypto exchange Thodex. They are said to have fled the country in April 2021 with about 400,000 he has about $2 billion belonging to Thodex clients.
Faruk Fatih Özer was recently arrested in Albania after Interpol issued a proper order. Local police have reported finding the former Thodex chief executive in Vlore, his third most famous city in Albania. Decrypt.unit (opens in new tab)Özer’s identity was confirmed using biometric results.
Some Thodex employees were already detained in April 2021, but the search for Özer continued for over a year. As a result, he and the other founders and executives of the ill-fated crypto exchange face 40,564 years each. bloomberg (opens in new tab) It was reported earlier this year.
Thodex had been working since 2017 and had around 700,000 customers in Turkey before abruptly abandoning operations in the spring of 2021. In Turkey, cryptocurrencies have been widely used to protect investments as the national currency, the lira, has been depreciating for many years. However, since most people have set up cryptocurrency exchanges in Turkey, the government has imposed rather strict rules to crack down on the industry in early 2021.
