Turkish authorities claimed that Faruk Fatih Ozer, founder of Thodex, was today arrested. Previous reports had called for prison time for Faruk Fatih Ozer, which could have been up to over 40,000 years. According to a statement , the Turkish Ministry of the Interior stated that the wanted CEO of crypto exchange Thodex was captured in Albania.
Faruk Fatih Ozer was subject to an Interpol red note, which is a request to law enforcement worldwide for the provisional arrest and location of a person.
He was arrested for his involvement in the disappearance overnight of Thodex, a situation that left thousands without access to their accounts.
Interpol initiated the process to extradite Ozer to Turkey, according to the Turkish government.
He will face a tough legal battle, with local prosecutors has been operational since 2017. In April 2021, trading was abruptly stopped due to an unknown outside investment. This prompted a four-to five-day pause.
Ozer claimed the company was forced to stop trading because of cyberattacks, but claimed that customer funds were safe. He also promised to return investors’ money soon.
Turkish police also detained 62 people and took the computers of the company. They also frozen its accounts.
Ozer was already in Albania when he fled, and the Turkish government was ready to extradite him. The manhunt continued for months, but this proved difficult.
He was finally found in Vlore (a coastal city, the third-most populous in Albania). The Albanian interior minister confirmed his identity using biometric data, and he also told his Turkish counterpart.
It was discovered that Thodex had transferred \$125,000,000 in Bitcoin to the U.S. exchange Kraken just before it closed. The discovery was made by Blockchain tracking company Whitestream. It appeared that the operation was a cash out operation, with executives stealing customer funds.
High crypto adoption in the country has prompted the government to introduce a bill to create new rules for the sector.
