Faruk Fatih Özer, head of the cryptocurrency trading platform Thodex, has been sentenced along with his two brothers Serap and Güven to 11,196 years in prison each for committing a massive cryptocurrency fraud, Turkish media reported. The prosecution was seeking a total of 40,562 years in prison for the 29-year-old Özer – who defended himself during the trial alleging lack of knowledge – for the crimes of money laundering, fraud and setting up a criminal organisation.
Özer was arrested in Turkey last April after being extradited from Albania, where he had fled two years earlier with some $2 billion in assets belonging to thousands of investors. According to prosecutors, Özer transferred some $30 million in assets to three secret accounts when he fled the country, much of which ended up in bank accounts in Malta.
The case attracted a lot of attention in Turkey as this massive cryptocurrency fraud coincided with a boom in cryptocurrency platforms, where many Turks were depositing their savings in the hope of earning extra income. Özer, who has shown himself defiant after his arrest and has denied any wrongdoing, attracted investors using an aggressive advertising campaign, involving celebrities and offering luxury cars as gifts.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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