The founder and former CEO of Turkish bitcoin exchange Thodex, Faruk Fatih Ozer, has been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison on fraud and money laundering charges.
He was detained in 2022 in Albania at Ankara’s request. He was then extradited to his home country.
An Anatolian court sentenced the siblings of the Thodex founder to the same prison term. They must also pay a $5 million fine, local news agency Anadolu reported.
Thodex was among the largest Turkish cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2021, it suddenly suspended services to users.
Faruk Fatih Ozer stole about $2 billion in digital currencies belonging to investors of the trading platform. After that, the law enforcement authorities of Turkey declared the founder of the exchange in an international search.