author: Bartlomiej Sagan
Cryptocurrency Exchange CEO Flees With $2 Billion
When it comes to stealing, there are sums worth taking risks for. This was probably the motto of the CEO of Thodex, a Turkish cryptocurrency trading platform, who fled to Albania after misappropriating $2 billion belonging to the investors.
Cryptocurrencies have been one of the hottest topics in recent months. Discussions about them, however, do not concern the shortages of GPUs caused (among other things) by miners, but also the ecological aspect of crypto mining. However, the biggest buzz in the web is caused by the amounts of money that can be earned on investments in cryptocurrencies. No wonder that Faruk Fatih Ozer, CEO of the Turkish crypto trading platform Thodex, also decided to get rich. 2 billion dollars would be impressive, if it were not for the fact that the money belonged to about 391 thousand investors and was misappropriated by the "clever" CEO.
Suspicions about Thodex emerged last Wednesday, when the information about an unspecified transaction involving more than 30 thousand accounts broke out, after the announcement of which trading on the stock exchange was suspended. Although the suspension of operations was explained by the need to look into these cash flows, the company was subject to a barrage of complaints to the relevant authorities. A day later, Turkey's security services revealed that Faruk Ozer had flown to Albania. On Friday, police entered Thodex's offices to search and secure potential evidence and arrested 62 people linked to the platform. Interpol, at the request of Turkish authorities, issued an arrest warrant for Ozer to be arrested and extradited to his home country. The wanted man himself claims that the accusations are groundless, and that he was in Albania for "business purposes". Moreover, he promised to return the money to his clients, although he did not specify when and how
The incident shows that investing in cryptocurrencies is not completely safe. Nevertheless, such popularity of digital currency in Turkey is not surprising. The local currency, the lira, is the weakest it has been in years and people have been trading it for more secure euros and dollars or Bitcoins for several months now. This may soon be curbed, however, as the Turkish Ministry of Finance's regulations on cryptocurrencies are expected to come soon. Skeptics speculate that there is a chance of a complete ban, although the local Central Bank governor has ruled out such a scenario. Whether this will be a positive development, we will see in the near future.