Turkish Agency Opens Investigation Against Crypto Exchage Thodex Over Alleged $2B Fraud

Thodex, a popular crypto exchange in Turkey is currently under investigation for alleged exit fraud after customers started complaining about not able to access their funds and later the website for the platform also went offline. The founder of the exchange Faruk Fatih Özer has reputedly fled the country on April 20 defrauding nearly $2 billion from over 391,000 customers on the platform. The founder has reportedly deactivated all his social media accounts as well.

The law enforcement agency has launched an official investigation into the fraud and raided the headquarters after hundreds of customers complained about missing funds and the official website being un inaccessible. The exchange reportedly halted trading on the platfrom on April 21 citing a foreign investment and claimed the platform would remain unavailable for 5 working days. The official statement from the exchange read,

“World-renowned banks and funding companies whose name we will reveal when the trade is complete have been offering us investment and partnership for a while,”

The firm also took to Twitter to dismiss all rumors of a possible exit scam and reassured customers that there is nothing to worry about.

Önemli Bilgilendirme https://t.co/8DPOzm2pOX pic.twitter.com/Bg0cfuBLDB

— THODEX (@thodexofficial) April 21, 2021

Thodex Exit Scam Marks Biggest Fraud in Turkish History

Thodex was one of the largest crypto exchanges in Turkey registering nearly $1.2B in daily trading volume by April 16, nearly seeing a 3X rise from the last week. Despite reassurance from the exchange, the official website became defunct by April 21 leading to a massive public outrage over missing funds.

A lawyer concerned with the victim on the exchange reported that the exchange accounted for nearly $12 billion in monthly trading volume, and nearly $2 billion went missing ever since the platfrom went cold. He said,

“We found out that the exchange had a monthly trade volume of about 100 billion Turkish Liras, which is roughly $12 billion. We estimate that about $2 billion went missing. This is the biggest case of fraud in the history of the republic,

The exit scam scenario became more prominent after the founder of the exchange was seen at the international airport fueling rumors about the scam.

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