In the case where 21 defendants, 7 of whom were imprisoned, including Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of the crypto money exchange Thodex, who was arrested in Turkey after his extradition by the Albanian Ministry of Justice, were tried on charges of fraud, the public prosecutor announced his opinion on the merits.
5 detained defendants, including Faruk Fatih Özer, and some of the complainants and the lawyers of the parties attended the hearing at the Anatolian 9th High Criminal Court.
At the hearing, where two of the detained defendants were connected via Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS), the public prosecutor presented his opinion on the merits.
In the 22-page opinion of the prosecutor, it was stated that Thodex, which was founded on September 14, 2017, had a capital of 400 thousand liras and that the company was established from the very beginning with the intention of deceiving and defrauding customers who wanted to invest in crypto assets.
In the opinion, it was noted that the values that appear in the accounts of the crypto-assets they bought or sold based on the instructions given by the customers who are members of the platform after depositing money into the accounts opened, do not actually have real equivalents.
It was explained that the company correctly fulfilled the buying and selling instructions of the customers in order to provide trust at first, then advertising deals were made with famous names in accordance with fraudulent purposes, gifts or bonus crypto money were distributed, and lotteries consisting of very expensive bonuses were organized.
In the opinion, it was pointed out that the main purpose of the company in this way was to defraud more people by attracting more customers and money.
TOTAL DAMAGES 257 MILLION 862 THOUSAND 432 TL
In the opinion, where it was stated that Faruk Fatih Özer and his accomplices acted with the intent of fraud from the very beginning, it was emphasized that they presented their customers as if they had sold assets that did not actually exist but were dematerialized in the system.
In the opinion, it was informed that the total loss of 2 thousand 27 victims was 257 million 862 thousand 432 liras.
In the opinion, which emphasized that it was clearly understood that Thodex was actually a criminal organization, in the light of the findings and the evidence collected, it was noted that the criminal organization’s ringleader, the accused Faruk Fatih Özer, continued his actions in a stable manner.
DECISION ANNOUNCED
Faruk Fatih Özer was sentenced to 11 thousand 196 years, 10 months and 15 days in prison.
DEFENDING IT WITH MUSA EROĞLU’S TURKUS
In his defense at the hearing, Fatih Özer quoted the song “The end of the road is visible” performed by Musa Eroğlu.
Faruk Fatih Özer, who can defend himself at the hearing, said, “I agree with the defense of my lawyers. This is not a country ruled by tyranny. The injustice experienced by us and our family needs to end. Thodex is just a company and it went bankrupt. Thodex is not a criminal organization. I am smart enough to manage all institutions in the world. This is evident from the company I founded when I was 22. If I were to establish a criminal organization, I would not act so amateurishly. It is clear that the suspects in the file in question have been victims for more than 2 years. I will not accept that I will be involved in illegal activities. Even when I was in prison in Albania, I paid the complainants. It’s a move he won’t do. Please approach with a little pain. The reason the file has reached this stage is because of my photos with ministers from Turkey and other countries. I have not had a relationship with any minister whose name is mentioned in the media. There were slanders against the honorable ministers and deputies. Entities fed by chaos benefited from the collapse of my company. I am now waiting for the facts to be seen by the honorable court committee. I would like to end my defense with a stanza from Musa Eroğlu’s folk song ‘Your path is visible’. I passed over the world, life is a deep breath. Look, the end of the road is visible from the circle of fortune. Ezrael comes himself, neither the master nor the master. The numbered days are over, the end of the road is in sight,” he said.