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Founder and Executives of Collapsed Turkish Crypto Exchange Thodex Sentenced to Over 11,000 Years in Prison

Faruk Fatih Özer, along with his sister and brother, have been sentenced to over 11,000 years in prison and a fine of $5 million for their involvement in the collapse of Thodex, one of Turkey's largest crypto exchanges. The exchange suddenly went offline in April 2021, leaving over 400,000 members without access to $2 billion in cryptocurrencies.

Özer had fled to Albania but was arrested in August 2022 and extradited to Turkey by April 2023 to face charges including fraud and money laundering. The collapse of Thodex caused concern in Turkey, where crypto is used as a hedge against inflation and the devaluation of the lira.

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