Turkish prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for more than 20 people suspected of involvement in the activities of the fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange Thodex.
In April last year, the Turkish prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the Thodex exchange in connection with the suspicion of defrauding about 390,000 investors. The investigation followed complaints from users who were unable to access their assets. Initially, the Turkish authorities assumed that the loss of the exchange’s customers exceeded $2 billion, but later the estimate was reduced to $102 million.
The conclusion of the Turkish prosecutor’s office against 21 suspects on the cumulative charges may include life imprisonment. So, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Thodex Faruk Fatih Ozer (Faruk Fatih Özer), who is accused of fraud using information systems, banking or credit institutions, as well as creating a criminal organization, faces up to 40,564 years behind bars.
The Thodex founder is being investigated in absentia because Ozer fled Turkey for Albania last year and remains at large. At the time of the investigation, Ozer denied the allegations of fraud and said he had left Turkey to meet with foreign investors, adding that he would return to the country within “several days” to cooperate with the authorities.
Last year, Turkey was rocked by numerous cryptocurrency scams, including Vebitcoin, Turkey’s fourth-largest exchange with over $60 million in daily turnover. In April 2021, the company went out of business, citing deteriorating financial conditions, days after Thodex ceased its activities.
Recall that last year Turkey introduced a ban on cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for goods and services. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country is in “a state of war with foreign cryptocurrencies for a national digital lira.” Owning crypto assets remains legal, although Turkish regulators have repeatedly cited cryptocurrencies as a form of tax evasion and capital control.
