Two men are facing charges in the United States for operating a cryptocurrency investment scheme called OmegaPro, which allegedly defrauded investors of more than $650 million.
According to a July 8 indictment, a federal court in Puerto Rico named Michael Shannon Sims, described as a founder and promoter of OmegaPro, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, who was said to have managed its operations in Latin America.
Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
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According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), OmegaPro operated between 2019 and 2023 as a multi-level marketing program that sold “investment packages”. Investors were told these packages would earn up to 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading handled by “elite traders”.
Prosecutors said Sims and Reynoso used misleading marketing to attract customers, including holding events, projecting the company logo on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, and sharing photos of luxury cars, designer goods, and expensive trips on social media.
In January 2023, OmegaPro informed its customers that it had suffered a network breach. The company said funds were safe and being moved to a different platform called Broker Group.
However, the DOJ alleged that the platform did not allow customers to access their money. Instead, they claimed the funds were transferred through cryptocurrency wallets controlled by insiders.
Recently, two men were jailed for a total of 12 years in the UK after running a fake crypto investment scheme that stole over £1.5 million. How did the case unfold? Read the full story.
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