Thodex CEO sentenced to Turkish prison for failure to submit tax documents

Three months after Faruk Fatih Özer — the founder and former CEO of Thodex — was detained in Türkiye, he obtained a jail sentence of seven months and 15 days for failing to submit paperwork requested throughout the trial.

Thodex was as soon as one of many largest crypto exchanges in Türkiye earlier than it immediately shut down and Özer fled to Albania. Following a Crimson Discover by Interpol, Özer was extradited again to Türkiye to be held chargeable for the traders’ roughly $2 billion value of cryptocurrencies.

Whereas Özer maintained innocence all through the trial since Oct. 30, 2021, he didn’t submit the requested paperwork to the Tax Inspection Board. He denied being Thodex’s official on the time, which prevents him from presenting the requested books. He additional claimed {that a} trustee had been appointed to run the enterprise on his behalf throughout the stated timeframe.

ÖNEMLİ DUYURU pic.twitter.com/3aBeJjFSYQ

— THODEX (@thodexofficial) April 22, 2021

As reported by Hürriyet Each day Information, Özer’s prosecutor initially sought a five-year jail sentence for “smuggling” underneath the Tax Process Regulation. The court docket initially sentenced the crypto entrepreneur to at least one yr and 6 months of imprisonment, which was later decreased to seven months and 15 days. The explanations for the sentence discount embody Özer’s social relations, and total habits and conduct throughout the trial.

Along with tax-related costs, Özer has additionally been accused of defrauding Thodex traders and awaits a listening to on the alleged accusations. The entrepreneur continues to disclaim the allegations, claiming that he has been framed by the defendants.

Associated: Turkey to make use of blockchain-based digital id for on-line public companies

A latest examine from Swedish crypto tax agency Divly reveals that 99.5% of crypto traders didn’t pay taxes in 2022.

The report estimates that Finland has the very best proportion of crypto traders who paid the required taxes on crypto in 2022 at 4.09%, with Australia following intently behind with 3.65%.

Nevertheless, the methodology used to reach on the estimates stays questionable because the report notes that search quantity knowledge could not precisely mirror the precise variety of crypto taxpayers, as not everybody who pays tax searches for crypto tax-related info on-line.