April 26 (SeeNews) - Turkish police has arrested 68 people in a probe into suspected fraudulent activities by the operator of local cryptocurrency exchange platform Thodex, local media reported.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in Istanbul issued arrest warrants for 80 suspects for alleged links to the Thodex platform which is currently inaccessible, Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.
Last week, the prosecution in Istanbul opened an investigation into the operations of the cryptocurrency exchange platform, while the financial crimes authority suspended all Thodex's accounts over a suspected financial fraud. According to local media reports, hundreds of thousands of users of Thodex have been left unable to access their digital assets after the platform abruptly halted trading last week, thus raising fraud concerns.
Interpol has issued a red notice for the company’s founder and CEO Fatih Faruk Ozer following a request from Ankara, Anadolu Agency said. Turkey's justice ministry started legal proceedings to seek Ozer's arrest and extradition after Istanbul police announced that he had flown to the Albanian capital Tirana on Tuesday, the media report read.
According to a statement published on Thodex's website the claims against the company are unfounded and a 'smear campaign'. Thodex also says that last week the company found abnormal fluctuations in its accounts and temporarily closed the platform to determine the reasons for those fluctuations and their sources.