A Turkish court has found two men behind the Turcoin cryptocurrency ‘Ponzi scheme’ guilty of fraud, they have now been sent to prison, Hurriet daily news reports. Last month, Turkish police have apprehended Muhammet Satıroğlu and Sadun Kaya for investigations in cities of Eskişehir and Kocaeli in Turkey, but soon they were released with a signed undertaking not to leave the country before the court ruling.
What was once dubbed as Turkey’s ‘National’ cryptocurrency turned out to be a Ponzi scheme after founders of Turcoin have disappeared with around $211ml of investors’ money in June 2018.
Earlier this year a Turkish company Hipper co-founded by Muhammed Satiroğlu and Sadun Kaya had launched Turcoin. Official reports promised a guaranteed high income based on the “buy-in” level of the investors. Like in any other Ponzi schemes every new investor would benefit more than the previous one.
Turcoin earned over $500ml. Twenty-two company managers were awarded luxury cars, which also turned out to be a publicity stunt, according to the report of the local news outlet Sabah. In one of his other statements, Sadun Kaya claimed that he owns around 8000 bitcoins and believes that by the end of 2018 the bitcoin price will reach $300,000.
The Ministry of Customs and Trade initiated an investigation into the company after investors reported that they couldn’t reach founders over the phone and at the “mining facility” in Eskişehir, no representatives could be found. Posts of scammed investors and fraud victims of Turcoin are still available on a Turkish consumer rights website, which gathers and publishes complaints from all categories.
By Nadya Astam