Turkish Court Drops Organized Crime Charges Against Thodex Founder

According to PANews, the 22nd District Court in Istanbul has dismissed organized crime charges against Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer, while maintaining fraud charges and continuing his detention. Ozer was accused of defrauding over 400,000 users following the collapse of the Thodex exchange in 2021, involving $2 billion. In September 2023, he was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison. His legal team plans to seek a reduction in the sentence, emphasizing that the judicial process is not yet concluded. Thodex, once a leading exchange in Turkey, abruptly closed in April 2021, leaving 391,000 users unable to withdraw funds. Ozer fled and was captured in Albania in 2022 before being extradited. The court previously found him guilty of money laundering and fraud, but recent rulings cited insufficient evidence for some charges.