thecoinrise.com
Faruk Fatih Özer, founder of Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Thodex has been arrested in Albania after being declared a fugitive.
According to a statement made on Tuesday by the Turkish Interior Ministry, Faruk has been on the wanted list for a while for defrauding over 400,000 users of its platform.
Many have argued that he should be charged with three different counts which are punishable with a maximum sentence of 40,562 years collectively with other suspects. Faruk was caught specifically in Vlora in Albania and his identity was confirmed by biometric results.
Thodex Cryptocurrency exchange is a defunct Turkish digital asset trading firm. It was the first global crypto exchange established in Turkey. As of 2021 when it shut down, it already had a user base of over 391,000. The woes of the exchange started in the form of a Dogecoin (DOGE) rewards campaign.
Thodex informed its users that it would be giving out 2 million minted DOGE tokens to as many who signed up for the reward. Accordingly, about 150 users signed up at the end of the day.
Thodex Boss Fled With Over $2B Worth of Crypto
The distribution of the DOGE token was scheduled to take place in the days following global Dogeday. According to traders, Dogeday which is celebrated on the 20th of April is the day when the price of the coin is expected to go up significantly.
As the day inched closer, users began to experience disruption in their trading which they reported to Thodex. In response to users’ complaints, Thodex claimed that its platform was under a cyber attack. Then, on Dogeday (April 20th), the Turkish crypto exchange halted withdrawals and other trading activities on its platform with the assurance that operations will commence between 4-5 days.
With all these set in motion, Faruk fled the country with cryptocurrencies worth well over $2 billion making himself a fugitive.
When it was discovered that he had absconded, an investigation started and in the end, about 81 suspects linked with the scam were arrested. Faruk’s two brothers were part of them, he was the only one who was not nabbed at the time.
Recently, he was discovered in Vlora and arrested. In the statement by Turkey Ministry of Interior, “the extradition of Faruk Fatih Özer to Turkey has started by the Interpol Department of the General Directorate of Security.”