Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Özer found dead in Turkish prison cell

The sudden death of Faruk Fatih Özer, founder of the infamous Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, is raising some serious questions in Turkey.

The young entrepreneur, who was sentenced to over 11,000 years for the collapse of his coin trading platform, allegedly had the sons of politicians as partners and was expecting an early release.

Özer dies in an isolated prison cell

The former chief executive of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange Thodex was found dead on Saturday, in his cell at the Tekirdağ high-security prison.

Guards discovered his body hanging by a towel and a sheet tied together in the bathroom of his cell, and Turkish authorities were quick to describe the case as an apparent suicide.

The 31-year-old crypto boss was sentenced to 11,196 years of prison in 2023, with the court convicting him of fraud, money laundering, and other charges linked to the rise and fall of Thodex.

The Istanbul-headquartered exchange denied thousands of investors access to their digital holdings when it unexpectedly halted operations in 2021, with its CEO disappearing.

Faruk Fatih Özer was eventually arrested in the Balkan nation of Albania, where he had fled, and extradited to Turkey two years later.

He was then sentenced, together with several other alleged accomplices in a criminal organization he was accused of leading, including two of his siblings, among a total of 21 defendants.

However, following the filing of appeals, the rulings were overturned earlier in 2025, and the case returned to a lower court to restart the proceedings.

Lawyer blames prison for Özer’s death

T24 reported on Monday that Özer had been diagnosed with anxiety disorder and was taking medication for his condition while expecting to meet a psychiatrist. He was supposed to be closely monitored, the Turkish independent online newspaper noted.

According to his lawyer, Sevgi Erarslan, the failed crypto businessman was increasingly isolating himself lately, even refusing to meet his own family members, who warned the prison administration about his state, requesting precautions.

“He wasn’t attending hearings. We wanted him to be moved out of a single-person cell, but he didn’t want that either,” Erarslan told Bloomberg.

The attorney also suggested guards had not checked on Özer frequently enough, as he was found up to 10 hours after he died, elaborating:

“If the death occurred long before the body was found, this means the prison administration was inattentive.”

Erarslan further commented that after more than four years in prison, at least his siblings should have been released by now.

He told Turkish journalist İsmail Saymaz separately that Özer lost hope when he saw his close ones were kept in detention despite the successful appeals.

The lawyer was quoted by T24 as stating:

“I don’t think Özer got a fair trial. We’ve experienced a lot of injustice. He was hopeless”

It’s still unclear how much Thodex traders lost as a result of its collapse, as estimates vary significantly. According to the blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, the customer losses amounted to about $2.6 billion, but the official indictment cites a much smaller figure of around $24 million.

Turkish media highlights mysterious facts and links to politicians

Turkey’s Ministry of Justice denies suspicious circumstances in the case, maintaining it’s a suicide. An investigation launched by the prosecutor’s office in the coastal city of Tekirdağ is yet to publish a forensic report confirming the cause of death.

Several “mysterious” notes were found during the examination of Özer’s cell after his corpse was taken out for autopsy, including one detailing the steps of ending one’s life by hanging, the Turkish news outlet Baba Ocağı unveiled. Another handwritten note was titled “bird dream.”

According to a report by Habertürk, the inmate told correctional officers during the headcount in the evening before he died that he “will be released in February.” And then, during the midnight checkup, he said he was going to watch TV and go to bed.

Meanwhile, journalist Adnan Bulut added new allegations to the mix, emphasizing the suspicious nature of the former crypto executive’s death and pointing to rumored ties to Turkish politicians.

“His inner circle said he had two partners: the son of a member of parliament and the son of a minister,” Bulut revealed, quoted by Baba Ocağı, which speculated that the Thodex case may now be closed.

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