Faruk Fatih Özer, founder of Thodex, to be brought to Turkey
According to the information received from the Ministry of Justice, there is an arrest warrant for the crimes of “establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime, fraud by using information systems, banks or credit institutions as tools, fraud of merchants or company managers and cooperative managers, laundering the property values arising from crime”. The process regarding the extradition of Özer, who was sought with a red notice, has reached the final stage.
Özer was temporarily detained in Albania, where he escaped at the request of the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice, General Directorate of Foreign Relations and European Union, requested the extradition of Özer. Minister of Justice Bekir Bozdag had a telephone conversation with Albanian Minister of Justice Ulsi Manja, and the issue of extradition was discussed.
After the high courts approved the decision of the Albanian judicial authorities regarding the “extradition of Özer to Turkey”, action was taken to bring Özer to Turkey. Faruk Fatin Özer will be brought to Turkey tomorrow.
– Return process
Wanted with a red notice, Özer was caught in Albania on 30 August 2022. The decision of the Elbasan Court of First Instance on the continuation of Özer’s detention on September 2, 2022 was appealed by Özer’s lawyers on September 14, 2022. The Dıraç Court of Appeals upheld the decision on Özer’s detention on 20 September. At the hearing on 17 November 2022, the Elbasan Court of First Instance declared that the request of the Elbasan Prosecutor’s Office “to allow Özer to be extradited to Turkey” was accepted, and Özer appealed this decision on 7 December 2022. The hearing regarding this decision was held on 16, 20, 27 and 30 December 2022 at the Dıraç Court of Appeal. At the hearing on 30 December 2022, the Duraç Court of Appeal approved the decision regarding the extradition of Özer to Turkey.
The Albanian Supreme Court rejected the appeal against the decision to extradite Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, to Turkey.
