LOOTED | Case File 5: Thodex One of Turkey's biggest crypto exchanges. Shut down overnight. The founder was already on a plane. The Promise: ▶️ A homegrown Turkish exchange, safer than foreign platforms ▶️ Aggressive promotions and giveaways during the 2021 bull run ▶️ Cheap fees and fast trading, heavily marketed to first-time Turkish investors ▶️ Launched at the perfect moment: lira collapsing, inflation soaring, people desperate to protect savings The Loot: ➡️ Early reports claimed up to 400,000 users and $2.6 billion lost ➡️ The amount proven in court was far lower: ₺356 million (about $12.5 million) from victims who formally came forward ➡️ The true total has never been established. Most victims never filed complaints ➡️ Collapsed in April 2021, near the top of the bull market How It Worked: ▶️ Users deposited lira and crypto into exchange wallets they did not control ▶️ No proof of reserves. Nobody could verify the exchange actually held what it showed on screen ▶️ April 2021: Thodex posted a notice about a "temporary suspension" of operations ▶️ By then Özer had already left Turkey. Users were locked out, balances frozen, withdrawals gone ▶️ He was later located in Albania, where he had been hiding for over a year Where It Was Built: ▶️ Founder: Faruk Fatih Özer, Turkish national, launched Thodex in 2017 ▶️ Headquarters: Istanbul, Turkey ▶️ Siblings Güven and Serap Özer were part of the operation Where It Stands Today: ▶️ Özer arrested in Albania in August 2022, extradited to Turkey in April 2023 ▶️ September 2023: Özer and both siblings each sentenced to 11,196 years, 10 months and 15 days for fraud, money laundering and running a criminal organisation. The number came from stacking penalties per victim ▶️ 16 other defendants were acquitted for lack of evidence ▶️ Özer died in prison in November 2025. Authorities said initial findings indicated suicide and opened an investigation ▶️ His death does not return a single lira. Victims are still waiting Call to Action: Respectfully requesting answers from @HMBakanligi @adalet_bakanlik @TC_icisleri and asking @TheJusticeDept @DOJCrimDiv @FTC to keep an eye on the broader issue of crypto-victim asset recovery and consumer protection: ▶️ With the founder deceased, what is the status of asset tracing and recovery for Thodex victims? ▶️ How much of the frozen or seized Thodex assets has been returned, and is there a formal claims process? ▶️ Turkey is one of the largest crypto markets in the region. Will domestic exchanges be required to publish proof of reserves? Lesson for my CryptoPatel Family 👉 👉 "Temporary suspension" from an exchange is the most dangerous phrase in crypto. Withdraw at the first sign 👉 A local exchange is not automatically safer. Ask for proof of reserves, not patriotism 👉 Never store more on an exchange than you are actively trading 👉 A record-breaking prison sentence is not a refund. Justice for the founder is not recovery for the victims @Thodexofficial shows the uncomfortable truth of this series: even when the system punishes the founder as hard as it possibly can, the people who lost their savings are still left with nothing. Protect yourself before, because there is no after. Educational Only, Not Financial Advice. ALWAYS DYOR.