Özer was the founder of Thodex, one of the largest cryptocurrency trading platforms in Turkey. In 2021, the platform suddenly went bankrupt, resulting in the disappearance of assets belonging to hundreds of thousands of investors.
The cryptocurrency executive fled Turkey following the bankruptcy but was apprehended in Albania in 2022. He was found guilty of cryptocurrency fraud, money laundering, and leading a criminal organization.
Prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of 40,562 years for Özer. Ultimately, the court sentenced him to 11,196 years and six months in prison.
Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 to gain EU membership, leading judges to impose increasingly lengthy prison sentences since then.
