OmegaPro Co-Founder Arrested in Turkey Over Alleged $4 Billion Crypto Fraud

TLDR:

• Andreas Szakacs, co-founder of OmegaPro, arrested in Istanbul for alleged $4B crypto scam
• OmegaPro operated as a Ponzi scheme, promising high returns on crypto/forex investments
• Company collapsed in late 2022, ceasing all withdrawals and operations by July 2023
• Szakacs obtained Turkish citizenship under the name Emre Avci before arrest
• Authorities seized cold wallets and computers, tracking $160M in crypto transactions

Andreas Szakacs, co-founder of the cryptocurrency and forex platform OmegaPro, was arrested in Istanbul, Turkey,  for his alleged involvement in a $4 billion cryptocurrency fraud.

Szakacs, a Swedish citizen who later obtained Turkish citizenship under the name Emre Avci, is accused of orchestrating a large-scale Ponzi scheme that affected millions of investors worldwide.

OmegaPro, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Dubai, offered investors returns of up to 300% on various paid investment products.

The company claimed to use an “automated trading” algorithm to generate these high returns. However, the business model reportedly relied on using funds from new investors to pay returns to earlier participants, creating an illusion of profitability.

The company gained credibility through aggressive marketing tactics, including organizing football tournaments featuring former stars like Ronaldinho, Kaka, and John Terry. These efforts, combined with fake newspaper articles and awards, helped create a prestigious image for the company.

The scheme began to unravel in November 2022 when OmegaPro stopped processing withdrawals. By July 2023, the company had completely shut down its operations, leaving many investors unable to access their funds.

The collapse coincided with the broader cryptocurrency market downturn and the high-profile failure of the FTX exchange.

Szakacs’s arrest came after an anonymous tip to the Istanbul Provincial Gendarmerie Command on June 28, 2024.

This information was corroborated by Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Mohaghegh, a Dutch national claiming to represent 3,000 investors who collectively lost $103 million. Mohaghegh stated he had personally invested $7 million in OmegaPro.

During the arrest, authorities seized 32 cryptocurrency cold wallets, several password storage devices, and computers containing OmegaPro documents and records of large financial transactions.

A preliminary examination of Szakacs’s digital devices revealed $160 million worth of cryptocurrency transactions within just one month.

Szakacs denied the accusations of fraud, claiming that the company went bankrupt in late 2022 and that he and his associates suffered significant losses. He stated that they had compensated many victims until the bankruptcy occurred.

The OmegaPro case has sparked investigations and legal actions in multiple countries. In France alone, over 1,500 complaints have led to a class action lawsuit. Similar legal proceedings are underway in Colombia, Mexico, Congo, Portugal, the UK, and Myanmar.

Turkish authorities also identified 16 local complainants who had used the “Omega Invest” app, believed to be a subsidiary of OmegaPro. These individuals reported similar experiences of initial small investments yielding quick returns, followed by pressure for larger investments and ultimately, the inability to withdraw funds.

The investigation has raised questions about the potential connection between OmegaPro and OneCoin, another major cryptocurrency scam that defrauded investors of $4 billion in 2017. Authorities are exploring possible links between the capital of these two fraudulent operations.