Faruk Ozer's 11,196-Year Sentence: A Milestone in Cryptocurrency Crime Prosecution

In the Web3 industry, which includes blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, security and transparency are vital concerns. However, despite the innovations and potential for decentralization, this field is not without abuse and fraud. In recent years, incidents of scams and illegal activities with digital assets have increased, leading to serious legal consequences for those responsible.

Courts worldwide increasingly find it necessary to impose long prison sentences for crimes in the Web3space. Sometimes, these sentences may seem absurdly long, considering the unfamiliar scale and nature of the violations. However, in practice, there are often no alternatives to such sentences. In today's news article, Coinmooner wants to share how the founder of the Thodex crypto exchange, Faruk Ozer, began his 11,196-year prison sentence this week.

As the judge noted, this is the longest sentence ever handed down by a Turkish court. The sheer magnitude of the sentence, 11,196 years, is a stark reminder of the severity of the crimes committed. It can be seen as proportional to the scale of financial operations and fraud managed by the exchange founder. This case underscores the gravity of cryptocurrency-related crimes and the judicial system's unwavering commitment to prevent such actions in the future.

Unprecedented Sentencing: Thodex Founders Get 43,000 Years in Prison

Coinmooner decided to investigate the details of this case and understand why one person received such an enormous sentence—11,196 years.

We found out that Thodex founder Faruk Ozer and his brother and sister were all sentenced to the same term—11,196 years. It’s also known that in the days before his arrest, Ozer grew his beard down to his chest and took a taxi to southern Albania, intending to set up a tent by the sea. Eventually, law enforcement found him at a public event.

By then, he no longer had the hardware wallet with $2 billion, which he had taken through airport security when leaving Turkey. According to him, he had emptied it to compensate affected investors and threw the device into the Ionian Sea. The Supreme Court of Istanbul did not comment on this extraordinary claim, sentencing him and his relatives to a total of 43,000 years in prison.

Capturing Ozer was a monumental task that required 62 arrests and coordinated actions by law enforcement agencies from several countries. This international effort underscores the global nature of cryptocurrency crimes and the determination of authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. Throughout this time and during the final sentencing, Ozer denied fraud charges, claiming that the funds from his exchange were stolen by an external hacker. Formally, Faruk Ozer will serve a prison term until the year 13,221. Recently, this is not the first case of crypto exchange founders being imprisoned. For instance, the former CEO of the largest exchange Binance was sentenced to 4 months in prison, which you can read more about in our article "Changpeng Zhao: 4 Months Beyond - Sentencing for Former Binance CEO".

Coinmooner will continue to follow this case and update our readers with all new developments. We also want to remind our readers that in the Web3 industry, it’s essential always to be cautious and use the most advanced protection methods to minimize the risk of financial losses.