Six individuals, including siblings of the Thodex cryptocurrency exchange CEO, were arrested Sunday as Turkish authorities tighten their grip on those involved in the alleged Thodex fraud case. Also arrested were senior staff members of Thodex after a Turkish court ruled on Thursday there was probable cause, reported Crypto Briefing.
Thodex stopped trading on April 22, coinciding with the disappearance of its chief executive officer (CEO) Faruk Fatih Özer, who is reported to have fled to Thailand with more than US$2 billion. Özer also closed all his social media accounts, and the customer service line of the Turkish exchange is said to have been disconnected.
In the meantime, Thodex clients and investors were left with unanswered questions about when they would be able to recover their money. In light of the fallout, the Turkish government moved to enforce stricter regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges.
A Bloomberg report said Ankara is keen on creating a central custodian bank to remove counterparty risk immediately following the fall of Thodex and another digital currency exchanger Vebitcoin only days apart. Regulators are also considering imposing a cap for exchanges and imposing an education requirement for senior executives of digital currency exchanges.
Several government offices are involved in drafting the regulatory framework, including the financial crimes watchdog Masak, the Treasury & Finance Ministry as well as the Capital Markets Board. They expect a draft to be completed within a few weeks.
