The Albanian authorities will reportedly extradite the notorious Faruk Fatih Ozer (CEO of the distressed crypto exchange Thodex) to Türkiye.
He escaped his homeland last year after allegedly defrauding the platform customers for nearly $2 billion.
Justice to Be Served
According to a recent coverage by BBC, the Albanian and Turkish authorities negotiated the deportation of Ozer, who has 15 days to appeal the decision.
The 27-year-old and his troubled crypto platform Thodex made the headlines last year by halting all trading services and shutting down the website. This caused huge investment losses since the venue was among the largest in Türkiye at the time.
Several sources indicated that Ozer pocketed $2 billion in users’ funds and found shelter in Albania. While he managed to stay undercover for over a year, law enforcement agents in the Albanian city of Elbasan finally detected his whereabouts and arrested him a few months ago.
The Turkish authorities have displayed their intention to severely punish Ozer for his actions. The investigation insisted that Ozer should stay behind bars for the ridiculous 40,562 years, while the Interior Minister of Türkiye – Suleyman Soylu – stated:
“When he is caught with the red notice, we have extradition arrangements with a large part of these countries. God willing, he will be caught, and he will be returned.”
Some of the boss’ associates, including his brother and sister, have already gone to jail.
Another Hit in Türkiye
The Turkish police recently busted another criminal organization and confiscated $40 million worth of digital assets from it. The entity ran illicit sports betting schemes and sent its yields to multiple cryptocurrency addresses.
One of the accounts belonged to Halil Falyali – a notorious Turkish Cypriot businessman who was supposedly the head of a separate mafia gang. He was shot dead near his home in February by a group of gunmen.
The investigators claimed that the betting firm processed around $135 million worth of crypto during its existence. Minister Soylu said the seized amount represents “just the beginning” of the action:
“This operation came out of Turkish Cyprus and is linked to the murder of Halil Falyali. A transfer of approximately TL 2.5 billion of money occurred. Approximately $40 million of money has been confiscated at the moment.”
The Ministry has also sent details about the case to some European countries, raising hopes this could help them battle such crime on the Old Continent.
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