Thodex founder Ozer arrested

Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, who was detained in Turkey after the Albanian Ministry of Justice ruled to extradite him, was arrested by the judge he was brought to. Özer, who was brought to the country on Thursday, April 20 following the extradition decision of the Durrës Court of Appeals in Albania, completed his procedures at the Istanbul Police Department Cyber Crime Department. Following his procedures there, Özer was referred to the Anatolian Courthouse. It was learned that Özer, who claimed that he was not a fraudster and exercised his right to remain silent during his procedures at the police station, will testify in court. It was stated that Özer said that he did not have any money and that he distributed what he had to the owners. The examinations on the laptop, 9 phones, sim cards, flash drives and notebooks brought with Faruk Fatih Özer are ongoing. Appearing before the prosecutor at the courthouse, Özer was referred to the criminal judge of peace on duty with a request for his arrest on charges of "establishing and managing an organization", "aggravated fraud" and "laundering of assets". Özer was arrested by the criminal judgeship of peace to which he was brought. He did not accept the charges against him. Faruk Fatih Özer, whose statement was taken at the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, explained that he founded a software company in Gebze in 2014 and that the field of activity of this company was to develop mobile and web software. Özer stated that he developed an interest in cryptocurrencies during the period his company's activities continued and that he started buying and selling cryptocurrencies with his personal account on global cryptocurrency exchanges and continued as follows: "During this time, I thought I could add innovation to cryptocurrency exchanges in Turkey. I founded the cryptocurrency exchange called Koineks by renting an office in Şişli, Istanbul in 2017. At the same time, my activities at the software company in Gebze continued. After founding the company called Koineks, I started hiring and continued my cryptocurrency activities with a staff of 5 employees. I mediated the purchase and sale of 5 coins: Bitcoin and Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Ripple. In 2020, I changed the name of our crypto exchange to Thodex in order to serve the global market and continued my activities by renting an office in the Göztepe district." Explaining that the company’s transaction volume started to increase over time and that he expanded his team for this reason, Özer said, “I hired people who work as software developers, social media experts, customer support personnel, and human resources personnel for the company. The Thodex company I founded was among the top 3 cryptocurrency exchanges in Turkey in terms of transaction volume. It continued its activities as a corporate company.” “I didn’t defraud anyone” Özer, who did not accept the charges of “fraud,” “establishing and managing an organization,” and “laundering assets,” which were attributed to him, said, “I didn’t defraud anyone. I didn’t launder assets.” Özer said that he would explain the issues regarding why he went abroad while the company continued its activities at the hearing on June 12. Claiming that he had reached out to the individuals who were identified as victims in the file and whose damages were determined by MASAK through his lawyers and compensated for these individuals’ damages, Özer said, “I intend to compensate for the damages of the victims in the ongoing process.” Capture and extradition process Özer, who was wanted with a red notice, was captured in Albania on August 30, 2022. The decision of the Elbasan Court of First Instance in Albania on September 2, 2022 to continue Özer's detention was appealed by Özer's lawyers on September 14, 2022. The Durrës Court of Appeals upheld the decision regarding Özer's detention on September 20. At the hearing on November 17, 2022, the Elbasan Court of First Instance announced that the Elbasan Prosecutor's request "to allow Özer's extradition to Turkey" had been accepted, and Özer appealed this decision on December 7, 2022. At the hearing held on December 30, 2022 at the Durrës Court of Appeals regarding this decision, the decision to extradite Özer to Turkey was upheld. Following the decision in question, Özer was brought to Istanbul by plane on Thursday, April 20. He said he distributed the money. It was learned that Özer, who claimed that he was not a fraudster and exercised his right to remain silent during the procedures at the police station, announced that he would testify in court. It was stated that Özer said that he did not have any money and that he distributed the money he had to its owners. In the indictment prepared at the end of the investigation conducted by the Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and in which 2,027 people are listed as complainants, it is stated that the company named Thodex was founded by the fugitive defendant Faruk Fatih Özer with a capital of 400 thousand liras. The MASAK report included in the indictment states that the Thodex platform deceived the complainants with fraudulent behavior due to their work and transactions. The MASAK report emphasizes that 253 million 714 thousand 909 lira worth of crypto assets were transferred from 3 separate accounts under the control of defendant Faruk Fatih Özer, and that a significant portion of this was transferred to the crypto asset wallets of defendants Cem Uzunoğlu, Faruk Fatih Özer and Zuhal Özer, who have a crypto asset service provider headquartered in Malta. The indictment states that 356 million lira worth of losses occurred due to these crimes. A prison sentence of 12,164 to 40,562 years is being sought for the 21 defendants, 6 of whom are under arrest, including fugitive Faruk Fatih Özer, on charges of "establishing and managing an organization in order to commit a crime", "fraud by using information systems, banks or credit institutions as a tool" and "fraud and laundering of assets originating from crime by merchants or company managers and cooperative managers".