Missing Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer arrested in Albania
The founder of a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange missing with client funds since April 2021 has been arrested in Albania.
Faruk Fatih Ozer, creator of Thodex, went missing last year along with an estimated $2 billion in customer assets.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry yesterday announced Ozer had been detained in Vlora by Albanian officers and Interpol.
A ministry spokesman added “extradition procedures to Turkey have been initiated”.
Until this week, there had been no reported sightings of 28-year-old Ozer since he was seen going through airport security in Istanbul days after Thodex mysteriously announced it would briefly suspend trading.
Authorities say Ozer gave a false name when apprehended. Officers took fingerprints and used facial recognition technology to make a positive identification.