The once-celebrated crypto entrepreneur, Faruk Fatih Ozer, is now a convicted fraudster. He founded the Turkish crypto exchange Thodex, which collapsed. Recently, he secured a partial legal victory.
On Thursday, the Istanbul 22nd Regional Court of Justice decided to keep Ozer in detention on fraud charges. However, they dropped the allegations of organized crime, according to his attorney, Sevgi Eraslan.
Ozer received a staggering sentence of 11,196 years in prison in September 2023. He allegedly defrauded over 400,000 investors out of $2 billion. Despite this partial ruling in his favor, he remains behind bars.
His legal team is determined to seek further leniency. “We will follow all legal channels to ensure a fair trial process,” they stated.
Eraslan described the court's decision as a sign of the evolving judicial process. Each criminal charge must be considered “independently,” not lumped together.
“The presumption of innocence is a cornerstone of a democratic state governed by the rule of law,” the statement emphasized. “No one can be declared guilty until the judicial process reaches a final decision.”
The statement also addressed public perception and media narratives. It argued that “comments and prejudices made before the trial process is complete undermine trust in the judiciary and harm individuals' fundamental rights.”
Ozer's rise and fall is a story that continues to impact Turkey's crypto space. Founded in 2017, Thodex quickly became one of the largest exchanges in the country. At its peak, it processed over $1 billion in daily trading volume.
But on April 20, 2021, the exchange suddenly halted trading. This locked 391,000 traders out of their accounts. Panic spread when reports surfaced that Ozer had fled Turkey, leading to an Interpol Red Notice.
Investigators later found that Ozer allegedly escaped with a hardware wallet containing $2 billion in crypto. He claimed to have emptied it to repay victims before tossing it into the Ionian Sea—a claim that remains unverified.
After a 16-month manhunt, authorities arrested Ozer in Vlora, Albania, in August 2022. By April 2023, he was extradited to Turkey and charged with fraud, money laundering, and running a criminal organization.
In September 2023, Ozer and his siblings received one of the longest prison sentences in Turkey's history—11,196 years each.
Initial reports suggested investor losses of $2 billion. However, the prosecutor's indictment later revised this figure to $43 million (356 million lira) at that time, now worth about $13 million due to inflation.
Ozer has denied any wrongdoing. He insists he mismanaged the exchange rather than intentionally defrauding investors.
His prison sentence is set to expire in the year 13,221, but the Thodex scandal is far from over.
In other news, a new class action lawsuit claims that Pump.fun, a Solana-based meme coin factory, operated an illegal securities exchange. The lawsuit alleges that Pump.fun provided automated tools that helped creators launch over 50,000 unregistered tokens. This could expose the $50 billion meme coin market to increased regulatory scrutiny.
This lawsuit, filed in New York's Southern District Court, claims that Pump.fun's U.K.-based parent company, Baton Corporation, collected nearly $500 million through a mandatory 1% fee on every transaction.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has dismissed speculation that member countries will add Bitcoin to their reserves anytime soon. At a press conference in Frankfurt, she cited Bitcoin's volatility and ties to illicit finance as reasons for its unsuitability as a reserve asset.
“There is a view around the table of the governing council that reserves have to be liquid, secure, and safe,” Lagarde stated.
Lastly, Fairshake, a pro-crypto super PAC, announced it has raised over $116 million for the 2026 elections. This comes after it significantly influenced the U.S. elections in November and reshaped digital assets policy. The donations include contributions from well-known companies like Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, and Ripple.
Other notable crypto firms and founders have also joined the fundraising efforts.