仮想通貨交換所の創業者が失踪　顧客資金２千億円超保持か　トルコ

【イスタンブールＡＦＰ＝時事】トルコを拠点とする暗号資産（仮想通貨）交換所が、突如取引を停止し、推定２０億ドル（約２２００億円）とされる投資家の資金を保持したまま、創業者が出国した。同国の検察当局は２２日、捜査を開始した。（写真はイスタンブール国際空港の旅券審査場を通過するトデックス創業者のファルク・ファティ・オゼル容疑者。民営デミルオレン通信が公開した監視カメラ映像より）
　交換所トデックスは２１日、外部投資に対処するために５日間必要だとの不可解なメッセージを投稿した後、取引を停止。投資の詳細は明らかにしなかった。
　トルコ治安当局は、トデックスの創業者ファルク・ファティ・オゼル容疑者がイスタンブールの空港の旅券審査を通過した際の写真を公開。容疑者の年齢は２７歳または２８歳とされる。渡航先は不明だが、現地メディアはアルバニアかタイに向かったと報じている。
　トデックスは取引停止時、投資家３９万１０００人の資金少なくとも２０億ドルを保持していたと報じられている。取引停止前には、仮想通貨の「ドージコイン」を他の取引所の４分の１の価格で販売するキャンペーンを行っていた。しかしトデックスはこうした投資を凍結。通貨の売却や他の暗号資産への交換ができない状態となった。
　民営デミルオレン通信（ＤＨＡ）によると、検察当局はオゼル容疑者に対し、「加重詐欺と犯罪組織結成」の疑いで捜査を開始した。
　トデックスはその後、ウェブサイトを再開し、「インターネット上のネガティブなニュースは真実ではない」との声明を発表。オゼル容疑者もツイッターへの投稿で、「トルコには数日で戻り、真実が明らかになるよう、司法当局と協力する」と説明したが、自身の所在地や、取引停止の理由については言及しなかった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/23-12:46）

Turkish prosecutors on Thursday launched an investigation after the Istanbul-based founder of a cryptocurrency exchange froze trading and left the country holding a reported $2 billion in investors' assets.
The Thodex exchange suspended trading after posting a mysterious message on Wednesday saying it needed five days to deal with an unspecified outside investment.
Turkish security officials then released a photo of Thodex founder Faruk Fatih Ozer going through passport control at Istanbul airport on his way to an undisclosed location.
Local media reports said Ozer -- reported to be 27 or 28 years old -- had flown either to Albania or Thailand.
Thodex went dark after running a promotional campaign that sold Dogecoins at one-fourth the price at which they were trading on other exchanges.
But the exchange locked in those investments and did not allow the coins to be either sold or converted into other cryptos.
Why don't you allow my coins to be transferred? Dogecoin investor Kaya Dinar asked Thodex in one typical tweet from a worried crypto trader.
Reports said the exchange shut down while holding at least $2 billion from 391,000 investors.
Hundreds of thousands of users cannot get access to wallets holding their crypto assets or cash, investors' lawyer Oguz Evren Kilic told AFP.
We have started the legal procedures and lodged a complaint at the prosecutor's office, he said.
- 'Aggravated fraud' -
Turkey's private DHA news agency said prosecutors were investigating the businessman on charges of aggravated fraud and founding a criminal organisation.
Several police vans were seen parked outside the Thodex office on the Asian side of Istanbul on Thursday afternoon.
The Thodex website re-emerged after going dark on Wednesday to state that we kindly inform you that the negative news on the internet does not reflect the truth.
Ozer also tweeted a statement promising to return to Turkey in a few days and cooperate with judicial authorities so that the truth can come out.
But Ozer shed no light about his location or why trading had been stopped.
The attorney Kilic said Turkish officials had confirmed to him that Ozer had fled the country but were still trying to determine his whereabouts.
One would hope that (Thodex) takes positive steps and the problem is resolved quickly, but the situation is getting graver each passing minute, Kilic said in a phone interview.
The news about Thodex had unexpected political ramifications when a picture emerged on social media of a man resembling Ozer sitting in a room with the son of a right-wing politician and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
I don't know Thodex's founder Faruk Fatih Ozer, Cavusoglu tweeted on Thursday.
Cavusoglu said the picture was taken when the man resembling Ozer accompanied MP Saffet Sancakli's son to a scheduled meeting in December 2019.
- Aggressive campaigns -
Thodex has launched aggressive campaigns to lure investors before Ozer went missing and shut down the exchange.
It had first pledged to distribute luxury cars through a flashy advertising campaign featuring famous Turkish models.
The platform then launched its Dogecoin drive.
The cryptocurrency is getting particularly popular among people looking to preserve their savings in the middle of a sharp decline in the value of the Turkish lira currency.
The Turkish crypto market remains unregulated despite growing scepticism from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government about its safety.
The Turkish central bank has decided to ban the use of digital currencies in payments for goods and services starting from April 30.
It warned that cryptocurrencies entail significant risks because the market is volatile and lacks oversight.
Wallets can be stolen or used unlawfully without the authorisation of their holders, the central banks warned last week.