Turkey: Founder of failed crypto currency exchange jailed for 11,196 years

A Turkish court has jailed Faruk Fatih Ozer, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, for over 11,000 year after he was found guilty of multiple charges, including leading a criminal organization, committing serious fraud, and engaging in money laundering.

According to a reports, Ozer has been sentenced to a total of 11,196 years in prison.

Ozer established his company back in 2017, and it quickly became one of Turkey’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. However, in April 2021, the company abruptly announced its inability to continue operations, leading Ozer to flee to Albania. At that time, he made assurances to repay the investors and return to Turkey once he had done so.

After a lengthy legal battle earlier this year, he was brought back to Turkey through extradition proceedings.

On Thursday, Ozer’s two siblings were also handed similar sentences, having been found guilty of the same three charges, according to reports.

During the court proceedings, Ozer was quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency as saying, “I have the capability to lead any institution in the world. This is evident from the company I established at the age of 22. If this were not a criminal organization, I would not have acted so recklessly.”

Prosecutors believe that the collapse of Thodex resulted in approximately $13 million in losses for investors, though the exact amount remains uncertain. Turkish media have even reported these losses to be as high as $2 billion.

This sentencing occurs at a time when another prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry awaits trial. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX and Alameda Research, is set to appear in court next month. The implosion of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022 triggered a series of bankruptcies and crises, leading many in the sector to liken it to crypto’s equivalent of the “Lehman moment.”

Reportedly, Bankman-Fried is seeking to pay up to $1,200 per hour to hire seven expert witnesses to testify on his behalf. Additionally, his lawyer has claimed that the disgraced mogul lacks access to Adderall medication while in prison and is subsisting on a diet of bread, water, and peanut butter.