Thodex’s founder has been granted partial release in a $2 billion cryptocurrency fraud case

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Ozer’s legal team has pledged to advocate for additional leniency while he remains in prison.

Faruk Fatih Ozer, the proprietor of the bankrupt Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, has achieved a partial legal victory as a convicted fraudster who was once a celebrated crypto magnate.

The Istanbul 22nd Regional Court of Justice ruled on Thursday to continue Ozer’s detention on fraud charges. Ozer’s attorney, Sevgi Eraslan, issued a press release that eliminated allegations of organized crime.

Ozer, who was purportedly charged with defrauding over 400,000 investors of $2 billion, was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison in September 2023. Despite a partial judgment in his favor, he remains incarcerated.

His legal team is committed to advocating for additional leniency while Ozer remains in prison. The statement states, “We will adhere to all legal avenues to guarantee an impartial trial procedure.”

Erasalan characterized the court’s decision as a testament to the changing nature of the judicial process, emphasizing that each criminal allegation must be assessed “independently” rather than as a collective.

“The presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle of a democratic state that is regulated by the rule of law,” the statement asserts. There is no basis for declaring an individual guilty prior to the conclusion of the judicial process.

Additionally, the statement addressed public perception and media narratives, contending that “comments and prejudices expressed prior to the conclusion of the trial process not only threaten the fundamental rights of individuals but also undermine trust in the judiciary.”

Established in 2017, Thodex rapidly established itself as one of the largest exchanges in the nation. At its zenith, it was processing over $1 billion in daily trading volume.

However, on April 20, 2021, the crypto exchange abruptly suspended trading, preventing 391,000 traders from accessing their accounts.

Reports that Ozer had escaped Turkey sparked a panic, which led to an Interpol Red Notice. Ozer was allegedly transporting a hardware device containing $2 billion in cryptocurrency when investigators later discovered that he had fled Turkey.

A claim that remains unverified is that he subsequently claimed to have empty it to repay victims before discarding it into the Ionian Sea.

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