Crypto #CEO behind $2.5B 'rug pull' ARRESTED, faces 40,564 #YEARS IN #PRISON
#Faruk_Fatih_Özer, the founder and CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange #Thodex, has been arrested in the #Albanian city of Vlorë. Özer fled following the collapse of Thodex in April 2021: he initially claimed a #halt in trading was due to #cyberattacks, and that #investors' money was #safe, before #disappearing. Almost immediately afterwards, #Turkish police arrested dozens of Thodex #employees and #seized the firm's #computers.
It subsequently emerged that, in April 2021, Thodex had #moved approximately $125 million worth of #bitcoin to the established US crypto exchange #Kraken. Given the number of investors in Thodex left with #nothing, this looks like straightforward #THEFT from a #failing_business.
It's not the whole story, either. #Cryptocrime_analysis firm #Chainanalysis addressed Thorex specifically in its overview of 2021, in the wider context of a total $2.8 #billion worth of #crypto_scams over this year being 'rug pulls': wherein a seemingly legitimate business is set up, operates as normal for a while, then #suddenly all the #money is #gone. It's #LARGE_SCALE_FRAUD
"We should note that roughly 90% of the total value lost to rug pulls in 2021 can be attributed to #one_fraudulent_centralized exchange, Thodex, whose CEO disappeared soon after the exchange halted users’ ability to withdraw funds," says the #Chain_analysis report. That works out at an estimate of around $2.5 billion of #crypto.
https://www.pcgamer.com/crypto-ceo-behind-dollar25b-rug-pull-arrested-faces-40564-years-in-prison/
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