Turkish crypto founder flees with $2 billion
- Date: 22-Apr-2021
- Source: Kuwait Times
- Sector:Financial Markets
- Country:Kuwait
Turkish crypto founder flees with $2 billion
ISTANBUL: Turkish prosecutors yesterday opened an investigation after the Istanbul-based founder of a cryptocurrency exchange shut down his site and fled the country with a reported $2 billion in investors' assets. The Thodex website went dark after posting a mysterious message saying it was suspending trading for five days on Wednesday because of an unspecified outside investment.
Turkish security officials then released a photo of Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer going through passport control at Istanbul airport on his way to an unspecified location. Local media reports said Ozer - reported to be either 27 or 28 years old - had flown either to Albania or Thailand.
HaberTurk and other media said Thodex shut down after running a promotional campaign that sold Dogecoins at a big rebate - but did not allow investors to sell. Reports said the website and the entire exchange had shut down while holding at least $2 billion from 391,000 investors. "The victims are panicked,“ investors' lawyer Oguz Evren Kilic was quoted as saying by HaberTurk. "They are lodging complaints at prosecutors' offices in the cities they reside.“
Prosecutors launched an investigation into the businessman on charges of "aggravated fraud and founding a criminal organisation“, the private DHA news