Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder and former CEO of Thodex, a once-prominent cryptocurrency exchange in Turkey, has been sentenced to seven months and 15 days in prison for failing to submit requested documents during his trial. Özer was detained in Turkey for three months after Thodex abruptly shut down, and he fled to Albania. Following Interpol's red notice, he was deported back to Turkey and held accountable for about $2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies held by investors.
During the trial, which started on October 30, 2021, Özer maintained his innocence but failed to provide the requested documents to the Tax Inspectorate. He claimed not to be an official of Thodex and cited a trustee appointed to manage the business during the period in question. Prosecutors initially sought a five-year prison term for "smuggling" under the Tax Procedures Act, but the court ultimately sentenced him to one year and six months, which was later reduced to seven months and 15 days due to Özer's social connections and conduct during the trial.
Apart from tax-related charges, Özer is accused of defrauding Thodex investors, and he awaits a hearing on these charges. He continues to deny the allegations, claiming he was set up by the defenders. Meanwhile, a report by Swedish cryptocurrency tax firm Divly indicated that in 2022, 99.5% of cryptocurrency investors will pay no taxes. The report estimated that Finland and Australia will have the highest percentages of cryptocurrency investors paying regulated taxes at 4.09% and 3.65%, respectively.
However, questions have arisen about the methodology used for the estimate, as it relies on search volume data, which may not accurately reflect the actual number of cryptocurrency taxpayers since not every taxpayer searches online for cryptocurrency tax-related information.
