Faruk Fatih Özer, the CEO of the collapsed Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, was found dead in a single-person prison cell on Saturday, his lawyer confirmed. Özer had been sentenced to over 11,000 years in prison for fraud and related charges following the 2021 shutdown of his platform. Victims' representatives have called for an investigation into the circumstances of his death.
Faruk Fatih Özer, founder and CEO of Thodex, was discovered dead in his single-person cell in a Turkish prison on Saturday. His lawyer, Sevgi Erarslan, confirmed the news to DL News, stating, “Faruk’s passing has deeply shaken us all.”
Özer was convicted last year alongside his siblings and sentenced to 11,196 years in prison on charges including “founding and leading a criminal organisation,” “aggravated fraud,” and “money laundering.” The case stemmed from Thodex's abrupt shutdown in April 2021, when the exchange halted withdrawals and locked users out of their accounts. Initially, the company cited complications from outside investments and later cyberattacks. Losses from the collapse varied in estimates, from $24 million in the final Turkish indictment to as much as $2.2 billion according to earlier security firm reports.
Thodex, founded in 2017, had grown by capitalizing on Turkey's high inflation and public interest in cryptocurrencies as a hedge against the weakening lira. Özer fled the country shortly before the shutdown and was arrested in Albania in 2022 after months on the run. His extradition and conviction marked a significant step in Turkey's efforts to regulate its lightly supervised crypto sector.
Mertcan Bayraktar, a lawyer representing seven Thodex victims—including one who lost three Bitcoin worth about $330,000 at current prices—expressed concerns over the death. “It raises serious questions about both public confidence in the justice system and the conscience of society,” Bayraktar told DL News. He noted the case's political sensitivity, as Özer’s business partner is the son of a Turkish Parliament member.
Bayraktar added that proceedings against other defendants will continue, alongside efforts for victim compensation, debt recovery, and asset seizures. Erarslan had previously defended Özer, explaining that he sought investors to cover reserve shortfalls due to “numerous security threats and attacks on its servers.” The death is expected to intensify scrutiny of prison conditions in Turkey and the nation's cryptocurrency regulations. Bayraktar emphasized, “At this point, the issue is not merely about one man’s death... It is about protecting the right to life of a person under state custody and maintaining public confidence in the justice system.”