crime
Faruk Fatih Ozer, the founder of Sodex, once one of Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was found dead in his cell at the Tekirdagu Type F high-security closed prison, local media GDH Digital reported on Saturday.
early report It has been suggested that the 30-year-old man may have taken his own life, but authorities have not yet confirmed the cause. An official investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of his death.
Founded in 2017, Thodex quickly emerged as one of Turkey’s most popular exchanges during the crypto boom, attracting hundreds of thousands of users with the promise of low fees and a wide list of tokens. However, in April 2021, the platform suddenly went offline without warning and users were locked out of their accounts. The shutdown caused turmoil in Türkiye’s cryptocurrency market, with investors claiming losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.
After the collapse of the exchange, Ozer fled Turkey and was later located in Albania after an international manhunt. He was extradited to Türkiye in 2022 on multiple charges including leading a criminal organization, malicious fraud and money laundering.
Turkish prosecutors have accused him of orchestrating one of the country’s biggest financial frauds by using Thodex to misappropriate customers’ funds and conceal fraudulent transfers.
In September 2023, a Turkish court sentenced Ozer to a staggering 11,196 years in prison, one of the longest sentences ever handed down in the country. His brother and several senior Sodex executives were also convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms for their involvement in the scheme.
Ozer’s death brings a dramatic end to a saga that has long plagued Turkey’s crypto industry. The THODEX scandal played a significant role in shaping public perception, prompting Turkish regulators to increase oversight of digital asset exchanges and introduce stricter compliance requirements and investor protections.
Authorities have not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident, but a detailed forensic and judicial investigation is underway to establish whether foul play was involved or whether the death was indeed a suicide.
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