The Albanian Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the appeal of Turkish cryptocurrency boss Faruk Ozer against his extradition to Turkey where he is accused of defrauding thousands of people who joined his cryptocurrency exchange.

Ozer is accused of defrauding clients to the tune of over $2 billion after he shut the Thodex cryptocurrency exchange with no warning, pocketed deposits, and left the country in May 2021.

He was seen leaving Istanbul Airport in April, bound for Albania and was then spotted in a hotel but was not caught by authorities until over a year later.

The Turkish national was arrested in the Albanian city of Elbasan in August 2022, accused of creating a criminal organisation and fraud with serious consequences. The Thodex scam is touted as the largest con in Turkish history, and some 400,000 people are believed to have fallen victim.

On November 17, 2022, the Elbasan Judicial District Court decided in favour of his extradition to Turkey, a decision that was also upheld by the Durrës Court of Appeal on 30 December.

The decision of the first instance was appealed, and after the final decision was made, an appeal was made with the claim that extradition to Turkey endangered his life, but the reasons raised by Ozer were not found convincing by the Supreme Court.

He will remain in prison until he is extradited.

(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)