Wanted Turkish crypto exchange founder detained in Albania

Albanian authorities have Faruk Fatih Özer in custody awaiting questioning and cooperating with the Turkish government.

The saga of former Turkish crypto exchange, Thodex, continues as its fugitive founder is now detained in Albania. Local law enforcement detained Faruk Fatih Özer during an operation at 05:30 (UTC) on Tuesday August 30 in the country's capital, Tirana.

According to a report by Cointelegraph Turkey, Özer is currently detained. After a first interrogation, the Turkish embassy in Tirana will be informed by the local authorities. The Turkish Interior Ministry and the Albanian government are working together on the case.

Özer will face legal proceedings in Albania, after which he should be deported to Turkey.

This is the latest update in a story that dates back to April 22, 2021, when Thodex stopped all trading and withdrawals on its platform. In response to an impending police raid, the exchange died down and the first reports of Özer's disappearance began.

Soon after, Turkish authorities arrested 62 people with potential links to the exchange and its founder, who later confirmed he had fled to the Balkan country of Albania. There had already been a raid on a private residence in Tirana in pursuit of Özer, however, this proved unsuccessful.

Related: Are non-KYC crypto exchanges as secure as their KYC-compliant peers?

According to reports, the Thodex scandal potentially affected 391,000 crypto exchange users and approximately $200,000 million in investments.

Turkey faced two consecutive similar incidents with the ThoDex scandal and another involving a closed crypto exchange called Vebitcoin. There ...