Turkey today initiated proceedings to issue an international arrest warrant against the runaway founder of the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange platform Thodex. Faruk Fatih Ozer has gone into hiding with $ 2 billion (nearly € 1.7 billion) in investor assets.
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Police today arrested 62 suspects in eight Turkish cities, including Istanbul. Thodex’s headquarters are located there. Sixteen other suspects are still at liberty. The CEO and founder of the crypto platform, Faruk Fatih Ozer, has also not yet been found.
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On Wednesday, the platform announced that exchanges would be suspended for four or five days. Not much later the website was made inaccessible. Hundreds of thousands of users have since lost access to their digital wallets. Thodex was home to at least $ 2 billion. The founder fled to Albania with the money, according to local media.
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On Thursday, the public prosecutor opened an investigation into Faruk Fatih Ozer for “extensive fraud and the establishment of a criminal organization”.
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Cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly in Turkey. Many Turks hope to protect their savings against inflation and an unstable currency. The Turkish lira has weakened 10 percent against the US dollar this year.
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The problems with the platform come a week after the Turkish central bank decided to ban payments with crypto coins from April 30. The transaction risks would be too great.
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