Faruk Fatih Ozer, the former CEO of Thodex crypto exchange, has been taken into custody in Turkey after allegedly executing a $2 billion crypto heist. International authorities had been chasing the fugitive for nearly two years, and he was finally extradited from Albania after an arrest in the coastal city of Vlorë in August 2022. Ozer landed at Istanbul Airport on Thursday morning and was taken for a medical check-up before being taken into custody by the Istanbul Police Department. Six people, including Ozer’s siblings, were jailed in May 2021 in connection with the case.
The incident first came to light on 22 April 2021 when Thodex cryptocurrency exchange customers were unable to withdraw funds. The exchange announced it had temporarily closed due to abnormal fluctuation in company accounts and subsequently discovered that Ozer had allegedly defrauded Thodex’s customers of approximately $2 billion. Meanwhile, Do Kwon, the boss of Terraform Labs, has been charged with the forgery of official documents by Montenegro authorities.
