Faruk Fatih Ozer, once hailed as the youngest Turkey crypto success story, was found dead this week inside his single-cell confinement at Tekirdağ F-Type High-Security Prison, where he was serving an 11,196-year sentence for one of the largest financial scandals in the country’s history.
Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç confirmed that early findings indicate suicide, though a full investigation has been opened.
Ozer’s trajectory mirrors the arc of crypto’s early wild west: rapid innovation, unchecked growth, and a catastrophic implosion.
How Did Faruk Fatih Ozer End Up Serving 11,196 Years in Turkish Prison?
In 2017, at just 22 years old, he founded Thodex, a cryptocurrency exchange positioned as Turkey’s gateway to global digital assets at a time when the Turkish lira’s collapse was driving savers toward Bitcoin.
Within four years, Thodex claimed more than 400,000 users and processed hundreds of millions of dollars in daily volume, propelled by aggressive marketing, celebrity endorsements, and an aura of legitimacy built through Ozer’s public ties to pro-government circles.
That image disintegrated overnight in April 2021, when Thodex abruptly halted withdrawals and its website went dark.
Users soon realized that roughly $2.6Bn in deposits had vanished. Chainalysis later identified it as one of the largest exchange exit scams of the decade.
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A Young Man On The Run in Albania: Do Kwon Jr?
Within days, Ozer fled Turkey, boarding a flight to Albania as prosecutors issued an Interpol red notice. The young entrepreneur, once pictured alongside Istanbul’s business elite, became the face of a national betrayal.
For 16 months, he evaded capture before being arrested in August 2022 in Vlorë, Albania, after a prolonged manhunt coordinated by Interpol and Turkish intelligence.
He was extradited to Istanbul the following year to stand trial on charges of aggravated fraud, money-laundering, and leading a criminal organization.
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Ozer’s Denial Meets 11,196 Years in Tekirdağ Prison
In September 2023, Ozer, his brother Güven, and sister Serap were convicted by an Istanbul court and handed sentences of 11,196 years each, a number derived from separate counts covering 2,027 victims, a convention in Turkey since capital punishment was abolished.
During his trial, Ozer denied intent to defraud, portraying himself as a visionary undone by regulatory ambiguity.
“If I had criminal intent, I would not have acted so amateurishly,” he told the court, claiming he planned to reimburse customers after stabilizing Thodex’s operations abroad.
In earlier statements written after his flight, he admitted contemplating suicide, but said he chose to “stay alive and fight, work, and repay my debts.”
(Source – A Rare Image of Tekirağ Prison)
Tekirdağ Prison, where he spent his final months, has long faced criticism from rights groups for its solitary confinement practices.
The prison itself is a ‘Type F’ prison which was described in a report by the European Committee For the Prevention of Torture.
“The three F-type prisons visited in December 2005, were accommodating a small number of prisoners serving a sentence of aggravated life imprisonment. Their only out-of-cell activity, apart from a visit every 15 days and a fortnightly telephone call, was outdoor exercise in the courtyard adjoining their cell.”
Local media reported Ozer was found hanging in his cell’s bathroom on Saturday morning. Medical teams pronounced him dead at the scene.
To many Turks, Ozer’s death closes a grim chapter in the country’s crypto boom, a story of youthful ambition consumed by hubris, regulatory neglect, and national economic despair.
Yet his demise also underscores a broader reality: in an era where financial innovation outpaces oversight, the line between entrepreneur and outlaw can vanish as quickly as a server goes offline.
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The post Who is Faruk Fatih Ozer? The Rise and Death of $2.6Bn Turkey Crypto Prodigy appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
