Highlights:
- OmegaPro co-founder Andreas Szakacs was arrested in Turkey for allegedly orchestrating a $4 billion crypto Ponzi scheme.
- Turkish authorities tracked $160 million in cryptocurrency movements linked to OmegaPro, seizing 32 cold wallets during the raid.
- OmegaPro’s collapse followed global regulatory warnings, with investors unable to access their funds after the platform shut down.
Andreas Szakacs, co-founder of the cryptocurrency platform OmegaPro, was arrested in Turkey in July according to a report from local Turkish media. He was detained on allegations of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that reportedly defrauded investors of $4 billion. The scheme collapsed in late 2022, leaving thousands of investors without access to their funds.
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Authorities in Turkey seized 32 cold wallets and computers during the raid. Despite Szakacs withholding access to the wallets, authorities tracked $160 million in cryptocurrency transactions linked to the fraudulent scheme.
OMEGAPRO’S $4B SCAM: THE SCOOP
Andreas Szakacs, the guy behind OmegaPro, got busted in Turkey.
OmegaPro promised insane returns through its “automated trading,” but it’s really a $4 billion Ponzi scheme.
Accounts locked, withdrawals stopped, and $160 million in shady… pic.twitter.com/Wffut4OZFL
— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) August 23, 2024
OmegaPro’s Scheme and Collapse
Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Dubai, OmegaPro attracted investors with promises of high returns through its “automated trading” algorithm. According to reports, OmegaPro offered returns of up to 300%, drawing in investments from across the globe. However, the platform was reportedly using funds from new investors to pay earlier participants, a classic Ponzi scheme set up.
OmegaPro operated under the radar for several years, but by late 2022, it began to unravel. Withdrawals were halted in November 2022, and the platform shut down operations completely by mid-2023. This coincided with the collapse of the broader cryptocurrency market and the high-profile failure of the FTX exchange. Several countries, including France, Belgium, Spain, and Argentina, had already flagged the company for regulatory fraud before its collapse.
Arrest and Investigation
Szakacs, a Swedish citizen who later obtained Turkish citizenship under the name Emre Avci, was arrested on July 9 during raids on two villas in the Beykoz district of Istanbul. His arrest followed a tip-off from an anonymous informant in late June 2024, which helped authorities locate him.
Dutch national Abdul Ghaffar Mohaghegh, representing 3,000 investors who lost $103 million in the scheme, also played a key role in the investigation. Mohaghegh reported that he personally lost $7 million in the OmegaPro scam. During the raid, authorities seized a range of digital devices, including computers and cold wallets. Despite Szakacs’s refusal to provide passwords, investigators were able to trace $160 million in cryptocurrency transactions.
OmegaPro’s collapse has led to investigations in multiple countries. France, where more than 1,500 complaints have been filed, has launched a class action lawsuit. Legal proceedings are also underway in Colombia, Mexico, Congo, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Myanmar.
The case has also raised suspicions of links between OmegaPro and the notorious OneCoin scam, which defrauded investors of $4 billion between 2014 and 2017. Investigators are examining whether the two operations share financial links, raising concerns about the scale and reach of these fraudulent schemes.
OmegaPro’s investors recount a pattern of early returns on small investments, which encouraged further financial commitments. Eventually, however, accounts were locked, and withdrawals ceased, leaving investors unable to recover their funds. The Turkish investigation remains ongoing, with further attempts to identify additional individuals connected to the scheme and recover lost assets.
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