Turkish Authorities Arrest Man in $4 Billion Cryptocurrency Scam

Turkish authorities have arrested Andreas Szakacs, a Swedish national implicated in orchestrating the OmegaPro cryptocurrency scam. The operation, estimated to have defrauded investors of approximately $4 billion, has drawn widespread attention for its scale and complexity.

OmegaPro, a platform that operated under the guise of a legitimate investment opportunity, was structured similarly to a Ponzi scheme. In this model, funds from new investors were used to pay returns to earlier participants, creating a deceptive illusion of profitability. This strategy ensured the scheme’s sustainability for a time, even as it concealed its fraudulent nature.

According to an August 21 report by Turkiye Today, Szakacs, who had assumed the alias Emre Avci upon relocating to Turkey, was apprehended following a tip-off from an anonymous informant. The informant’s information led authorities to a villa in Istanbul, where Szakacs was arrested on July 9. Abdul Ghaffar Mohageh, a Dutch national representing around 3,000 victims who collectively lost $103 million in the scam, further validated the arrest. Mohageh himself had invested $7 million.

OmegaPro closed after it ceased fund withdrawals in November 2022 and eventually shut down entirely by July 2023. The scheme’s collapse left many investors unable to access their money, leading to widespread financial losses and distress among its clientele.

In addition to Szakacs’s arrest, the Turkish Gendarmerie noted that 16 local users of the OmegaPro app had been identified. These individuals reported that initial investments appeared to generate quick returns, leading to increased deposits. However, when investors attempted to withdraw their funds, their accounts were emptied, exposing the fraudulent nature of the operation.

Notably, the OmegaPro scam shares striking similarities with OneCoin, another major cryptocurrency fraud involving losses estimated at $4 billion. Both schemes utilized deceptive practices to attract and maintain investor confidence while systematically siphoning funds. In June 2024, the U.S. State Department increased the reward for information leading to the capture of OneCoin’s founder, Ruja Ignatova, who has been in hiding since 2017, to $5 million.

In September 2023, Carl Sebastian Greenwood, a key figure in the OneCoin scheme, was sentenced to 20 years and fined $300 million. Earlier this year, Irina Dilkinska, the former head of legal and compliance at OneCoin, was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $111 million by a U.S. court.