After more than a year on the run, the founder of Thodex has finally been arrested for taking more than 2 billion dollars from the exchange. Faruk Fatih Özer was officially arrested at the end of August in Albania, according to a recent report by the Turkish Interior Ministry. Proceedings will now begin to extradite Özer back to Turkey, where he will face charges for his involvement in the Thodex crypto scam.
What Happened with The Thodex Crypto Scam?
The Thodex crypto scam happened back in April of 2021 when the exchange suddenly shut down and did not allow anyone to access any of the digital assets they had invested into the platform. Originally, the platform was down for the first few hours due to scheduled maintenance, but afterward, an updated statement was posted to the platform the next day, claiming that there was a sale process in place. The original notice stated, “Services will remain closed for about five working days while the share transfer is completed, but users needn’t worry about their investments.”
However, even though this was happening, users were unable to get into their accounts or withdraw any of their funds, which sparked concern among the crypto community. Thodex claimed that this was untrue, even stating that “Globally renowned banks and funds, whose names we are going to announce when the agreement process is completed, have been wanting to invest in our company and proposed a partnership for a long time.”
Eventually, it was revealed that Thodex was not actually going through a sale process. Instead, Özer left the country and escaped to Thailand with more than $2 billion of user funds. On top of that, he shut down all social media accounts and did not respond to any customer inquiries. This led to a mass panic among Thodex users, as they were not sure if they would ever see their money again. Unfortunately, until now, Thodex investors have not been able to get their money back.
What Happens Now that Özer Has Been Arrested?
Now that Özer has been arrested, the Turkish government will begin proceedings to have him extradited back to Turkey, where he will face charges for his involvement in the Thodex crypto scam. It’s unclear exactly when this process will take place, but it’s likely that it will be some time before Özer is actually brought back to Turkey. In the meantime, more than 350,000 people have filed criminal complaints against Özer in relation to the Thodex crypto scam.