Why was this man sentenced to more than 11 thousand years in prison?

Turkish businessman Faruk Fatih Özer received a sentence of 11,196 years in prison, a term that couldn't be served even in over a thousand lifetimes.

Faruk Fatih Özer is the founder of the cryptocurrency platform called Thodex. At the beginning of 2021, he fled Turkey with the assets of 400,000 clients.

We are talking about more than 2 billion dollars  in assets, which Faruk Fatih Özer took with him, after a suspicious movement, which did not prevent his escape.

The Thodex platform unexpectedly suspended its activities and sent a message to customers saying it needed five days to complete an unspecified foreign transaction. After that, it was never operational again.

Thodex managed to attract many customers thanks to an aggressive advertising campaign, in which it promised to give luxury vehicles to certain customers.

Additionally, the company offered deep discounts on Dogecoin, a suspicious cryptocurrency that began to spark interest through Elon Musk, according to Turkish state news agency Anadolu.

Interpol established a red alert to search for and capture Faruk Fatih Özer, who remained under the radar of justice for 16 months.

In August 2022, Faruk Fatih Özer was located and detained in Albania, where he remained until his extradition to Turkey in April 2023.

An Istanbul Court sentenced Faruk Fatih Özer to the aforementioned 11,196 years in prison, in September 2023.

Interestingly, two of his brothers were sentenced to the same sentence and will be able to keep each other company behind bars.

Photo: Pexels – RDNE Stock Project

Today, Faruk Fatih Özer is 29 years old and will spend the rest of his days in prison.