Thodex crypto currency boss jailed for 11,196 years in Turkiye for fraud

A Turkish crypto currency boss and his two siblings have been jailed for 11,196 years each for defrauding investors of millions of dollars, BBC reports.

According to the report, Faruk Fatih Ozer, 29, fled to Albania in 2021 with investor assets after his Thodex exchange suddenly collapsed.

He was extradited back to Turkiye in June and found guilty of money-laundering, fraud and organised crime, the report added.

Ozer told the court he would “not have acted so amateurishly” if his intent was criminal, state media reported.

“I am smart enough to lead any institution on Earth,” the Anadolu agency quoted him as saying.

“That is evident in this company I established at the age of 22.”

Such extraordinary prison sentences are common in Turkiye, since the abolition of the death penalty in 2004.

Adnan Oktar, a TV cult preacher, was jailed for 8,658 years in 2022 for fraud and sex crimes. Ten of his followers received the same sentence.

READ: Kuwait imposes blanket ban on cryptocurrencies