The once-celebrated crypto mogul turned convicted fraudster, Faruk Fatih Ozer, the founding father of the collapsed Turkey-based crypto trade Thodex, has secured a partial authorized victory.
On Thursday, the Istanbul twenty second Regional Court docket of Justice dominated to keep up Ozer’s detention on fraud expenses. But it surely dropped allegations of organized crime, in line with Ozer’s lawyer, Sevgi Eraslan’s press assertion.
Ozer, who was sentenced to 11,196 years in jail in September 2023 for allegedly defrauding over 400,000 buyers out of $2 billion, stays behind bars regardless of the partial ruling in his favor.
Whereas Ozer stays in jail, his authorized group vows to push for additional leniency. “We are going to comply with all authorized channels to make sure a good trial course of,” the assertion reads.
Erasalan described the court docket’s determination as an indication of the judicial course of’s evolving nature, noting every prison cost have to be evaluated “independently” relatively than grouped collectively.
“The presumption of innocence is among the cornerstones of a democratic state ruled by the rule of regulation,” the assertion says. “No individual may be declared responsible earlier than the judicial course of reaches a ultimate determination.”
The assertion additionally took goal at public notion and media narratives, arguing “feedback and prejudices made earlier than the trial course of is accomplished not solely undermine belief within the judiciary but additionally hurt the elemental rights of people.”
A $2 Billion Crypto Scandal That Shook Turkey
Ozer’s rise and catastrophic fall is a narrative that continues to hang-out Turkey’s crypto house.
Based in 2017, Thodex rapidly grew to become one of many nation’s largest exchanges. It was processing greater than $1 billion in every day buying and selling quantity at its peak.
However on April 20, 2021, the crypto trade abruptly halted buying and selling, locking 391,000 merchants out of their accounts.
Panic unfold as experiences emerged that Ozer had fled Turkey, triggering an Interpol Crimson Discover.
Investigators later found that Ozer had fled Turkey, allegedly smuggling a {hardware} pockets containing $2 billion in crypto.
He later claimed to have emptied it to repay victims earlier than tossing it into the Ionian Sea—a declare that continues to be unverified.
After a 16-month manhunt, authorities arrested Ozer in Vlora, Albania, in August 2022.
By April 2023, he was extradited to Turkey and charged with fraud, cash laundering, and working a prison group.
In September 2023, Ozer and his siblings, Serap and Güven, have been handed one of many longest jail sentences in Turkey’s judicial historical past—11,196 years every.
Whereas preliminary experiences pegged investor losses at $2 billion, the prosecutor’s indictment later revised the determine to $43 million (356 million lira) on the time, now price about $13 million as a result of inflation.
He additionally denied wrongdoing, insisting that he had merely mismanaged the trade—not intentionally defrauded buyers.
Ozer’s jail sentence is about to run out within the 12 months 13,221—however the Thodex scandal is much from over.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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