Turkish court remands alleged Ponzi scheme creator

A Turkish court on July 7 remanded in custody the alleged creator of an online Ponzi scheme game who was brought back to Turkey last weekend.

Mehmet Aydın, 29, had surrendered to the Turkish Consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil and was arrested at the Istanbul Airport as soon as he landed on July 3.

Aydın, nicknamed Tosuncuk, who was also sought by an Interpol red notice at Turkey's request, is accused of various crimes, including founding a criminal organization and fraud and faces possible lengthy prison sentences.

He faces charges in courts in Istanbul and Bursa of committing fraud by using information systems, banks, or credit institutions.

After Aydın founded Farm Bank - "Çiftlik Bank" in Turkish - inspired by the FarmVille social media game in 2016, over 3,700 people were allegedly defrauded.

After complaints by thousands of users, a red notice was issued in March 2018 but Aydın disappeared and had been at large for the last two years.

Turkey's Justice Ministry contacted every country where Aydın was allegedly seen, including Uruguay, Brazil, Panama, Honduras, Canada, and Ukraine.

After Aydın was spotted in Brazil, his extradition was requested from Brazil in June 2018. The request was repeated this February.