Thodex cryptocurrency platform founder, Faruk Fatih Ozer, and his brothers Serap and Guven were sentenced to 11,196 years in prison each, as reported by Anadolu state news agency on Friday.
The sentences were handed down following a short trial that concluded late on Thursday.
In what marks a significant downturn in the crypto boom that gripped Turkey, the Ozer brothers faced severe punishment for crimes including fraud, money laundering, and establishing a criminal organization.
The prosecutors had initially sought an even more drastic sentence of 40,562 years for Faruk Fatih Ozer.
Ozer allegedly fled Turkey in April 2021, reportedly taking with him a substantial sum of investor assets initially purported to be $2 billion, although this figure has been disputed.
Investigations revealed that Ozer transferred approximately 250 million liras (around $30 million at that time) to three undisclosed accounts.
The majority of these funds were traced to a bank in Malta. In total, the brothers were indicted for causing damages amounting to 356 million liras to their clients.
Despite the allegations, Faruk Fatih Ozer maintained a stance of innocence during the trial, stating, “If I were to establish a criminal organization, I would not have acted so amateurishly.”
The case comes amid a backdrop of a declining trust in the lira, which instigated a surge in cryptocurrency investments in Turkey as individuals sought to defend their assets against the depreciating local currency.
Ozer became somewhat of a notorious figure in the local media, further heightened by his associations with pro-government ultranationalist personalities.
The sentencing is reflective of Turkey’s judicial approach to severe offenses, especially after the abolition of the death penalty in 2004 as part of the nation’s aspirations to join the European Union; an approach characterized by handing down massive prison terms.
Following his escape to Albania, Ozer was apprehended last year due to an international arrest warrant issued by Interpol, initiating the judicial process that culminated in the recent verdict.
