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What do you think of the prison sentence for the founder of the digital currency exchange Thodex?
The founder of the digital currency exchange Thodex and his two brothers have each been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison in Turkey, according to the state news agency Anadolu. For Faruk Fatih Özer and his brothers, the verdict was passed late on Thursday after a short trial before a court in Istanbul, Anadolu reported on Friday.
The public prosecutor’s office had demanded a prison sentence of 29,40 years for money laundering, fraud and the formation of a criminal organization for the 562-year-old Özer.
➤ Read more: Founder of digital currency exchange Thodex arrested in Albania
Escaped with 1.9 billion euros from 400,000 investor accounts
The Thodex founder was arrested in Albania in August 2022 on the basis of an international arrest warrant and later extradited. At the time, Turkish authorities accused Özer of fleeing Turkey with $2 billion (€1.9 billion) from the accounts of nearly 400,000 investors.
Özer’s cryptocurrency exchange, based in Istanbul, had advertised aggressively for investors – Turkish models promised luxury cars, for example. The cryptocurrency Dogecoin offered the platform at a quarter of the price that other cryptocurrency exchanges charged. However, buyers could not resell them or exchange them for other digital currencies.
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In April 2021, the site was no longer accessible – a few days earlier, Thodex had published a notice stating that five days were needed for an “outside investment”. Turkish authorities released a photo of Özer taken at passport control at Istanbul airport. Two days after departure, he complained on Twitter that the allegations against him were “unfounded”. He was on his way to meet investors.
Turkey is known for long prison sentences of its courts
The case made big headlines in Turkey as it coincided with a crypto boom in the country. Many Turks turned to digital currencies with the deep fall of the Turkish lira, which began more than two years ago. Since then, however, Ankara has been regulating cryptocurrencies more heavily.
Turkey is known for long prison sentences of its courts. The heavy penalties became more common after the country abolished the death penalty in 2004 to increase its chances of joining the European Union
