Share this article
OmegaPro Co-Founder Arrested in Turkey on Suspicion of $4B Ponzi Scheme: Reports
The firm said it invested in cryptocurrency and forex, and reportedly collapsed in 2022.
Updated Aug 22, 2024, 3:22 p.m. Published Aug 22, 2024, 3:19 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
In this article
- Andreas Szakacs, a co-founder of OmegaPro, alleged to be a cryptocurrency-related scam, was arrested in Turkey in July, Turkish media reported.
- Turkish authorities seized cold wallets and computers and tracked $160 million of cryptocurrency movements, the reports said.
Andreas Szakacs, a co-founder of OmegaPro, was arrested in Turkey in July for his involvement with the company alleged to have scammed investors of $4 billion in a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme, Turkish media reported Thursday.
Szakacs, a Swede, changed his name to Emre Avci after becoming a citizen of the country, Turkey Today said. He rejected the accusations and said he worked in finance and marketing, according to BirGün, an Istanbul-based daily.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The gendarmerie seized computers and 32 cold wallets, according to behindmlm.com. While Szakacs did not provide passwords for the devices, Turkish authorities were able to track $160 million of cryptocurrency movements, BirGün said.
OmegaPro reportedly collapsed in late 2022, around the time the FTX crypto empire crashed. Prior to that, countries including France, Belgium Spain and Argentina sent out regulatory fraud warnings about the company, behindmlm.com reported at the time. OmegaPro did not target U.S. customers, it said.
The arrest followed a June 28 tip-off from an anonymous informant.
A Dutch national, Abdul Ghaffar Mohaghegh, gave a statement to the gendarmerie saying he'd lost $7 million in the scheme and claimed to have power of attorney from 3,000 of the affected investors who had collectively lost $103 million.
According to Turkey Today, Szakacs was arrested on July 9 after raids were conducted at two villas in Beykoz, Istanbul. BirGün said the arrest for "fraud by using information systems, banks or credit institutions as a tool" occurred on July 10.
Read More: Turkey Takes Crypto Bill to Parliament, Aims to Bring Crypto Licensing to the Country
CORRECTION (Aug 22, 15:20 UTC): Corrects figure in headline to $4B
More For You
More For You
Crypto group counters Wall Street bankers with its own stablecoin principles for bill
After the bankers shared a document at the White House demanding a total ban on stablecoin yield, the crypto side answers that it needs some stablecoin rewards.
What to know:
- The U.S. Senate's crypto market structure bill has been waylaid by a dispute over something that's not related to market structure: yield on stablecoins.
- The Digital Chamber is offering a response to a position paper circulated earlier this week by bankers who oppose stablecoin yield.
- The crypto group's own principles documents argues that certain rewards are needed on stablecoin acvitity, but that the industry doesn't need to pursue products that directly threaten bank deposits business.
Top Stories
