OmegaPro Co-Founder Arrested in Turkey on Suspicion of $4B Ponzi Scheme: Reports

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.

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.

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CORRECTION (Aug 22, 15:20 UTC): Corrects figure in headline to $4B