Faruk Fatih Ozer, who ran crypto exchange Thodex until it imploded in 2021, was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison by a Turkish court for crimes including fraud.
The former CEO of Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, Faruk Fatih Özer, has been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison by a Turkish court for various crimes including fraud.
Delivering its verdict late Thursday, September 7, the court in Istanbul sentenced the 29-year-old and his two brothers, Serap and Guven, to the same jail terms, after finding them guilty of aggravated fraud, leading a criminal organization and money laundering.
Ozer was initially reported to have fled Turkey in April 2021 with $2 billion in investor assets, although that figure has since been disputed, AFP reports.
Prosecutors said Ozer had transferred 250 million liras in user assets (worth about $30 million at the time) to three secret accounts when he fled Turkey in April 2021, with much of the money ending up in a Malta bank.
The indictment said the Ozer brothers had caused 356 million liras of damage to clients in all.
He was arrested last year in Albania on an international arrest warrant from Interpol.
