Turkish crypto executive sentenced to 11,196 years in jail

A person from Turkey who is in charge of a digital currency and his two brothers have been sent to prison for a very long time, each serving 11,196 years. They did this because they stole lots of money from people who had invested in their business.

Faruk Fatih Ozer, who is 29 years old, ran away to Albania in 2021 when his Thodex exchange crashed unexpectedly and took the money invested by people.

He was sent back to Turkey in June and was found guilty of moving illegal money, tricking people, and being part of a criminal group.

Ozer said in court that if he had intended to commit a crime, he would not have acted in such an unprofessional way, according to the news.

“I can lead any organization in the world because I am intelligent,” as reported by the Anadolu agency.

“It can clearly be seen in this company I started when I was 22 years old. ”

The short trial in Istanbul also decided that his sister Serap and brother Guven are also guilty of the same accusations.

Turkish news agencies reported that the people accused were given separate punishments for many crimes against 2,027 individuals, resulting in the total number of years in the sentence.

Long prison terms like this are normal in Turkey since they got rid of the death penalty in 2004.

Adnan Oktar, a religious leader with a TV show, was sent to prison in 2022 for a really long time (8,658 years) for tricking people and committing sexual crimes. Ten people who follow him were given the same punishment.

Prosecutors wanted Ozer to go to jail for a really long time, about 40,562 years, according to AFP.

Turks started using cryptocurrencies to protect themselves from the falling value of their currency, the lira, which started about two years ago.

Thodex was started in 2017 and became one of the biggest platforms in the country for trading virtual currencies.

Ozer became well-known across the country for being very talented with finances. He succeeded in becoming part of the influential group of people who supported the government by making friends with important figures.

However, the platform unexpectedly fell apart in April 2021. The money that the investor had is gone and Ozer is now hiding.

He got arrested in Albania last year because Interpol wanted him. He was sent back to his home country after a long legal process.

Turkish news outlets said that Ozer ran away with assets valued at $2 billion.

The prosecutor’s charges say that Thodex investors have lost 356 million liras in total.

That sum of money was valued at about $43 million when the exchange crashed.

The value of the same amount has increased to about $13 million due to rapid inflation and the decline of the lira in international markets.