Wanted by Interpol, the founder of the Turkish cryptocurrency platform Thodex, suspected of having fled Turkey last year with the assets of nearly 400,000 customers, has been arrested in Albania. This was announced on Tuesday by the authorities of Ankara, who had requested in April 2021 the launching of an international arrest warrant against this 28-year-old man.
With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
Before his arrest in Albania’s Vlora district, Faruk Fatih Özer’s latest image showed the young entrepreneur at Istanbul airport passport control, wearing a black sweater, on his way to an unknown destination. It was April 20, 2021, a day before cryptocurrency platform Thodex suspended operations for bogus reasons.
In the same week, Turkish police arrested dozens of people suspected of fraud on behalf of Thodex – including the brother and sister of the platform’s founder.
Faruk Fatih Özer, who had denounced on social networks ” baseless allegations claimed to intend to return to Turkey after a few days. He had done nothing about it, and the Ankara authorities had asked Interpol to issue a “red notice”.
Turkey is now asking Albania to extradite the suspect, accused of having fled the country with two billion dollars in assets belonging to nearly 400,000 Thodex investors. Faruk Fatih Özer is being prosecuted by the Turkish courts with 20 other people, including six in preventive detention. All face heavy prison sentences.