Federal prosecutors have indicted two men in a massive crypto investment scam that defrauded thousands of victims out of more than $650 million.
Michael Shannon Sims, 48, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, are accused of operating OmegaPro, an international crypto-based pyramid scheme that offered investors up to 300% returns in 16 months based on forex trading.
As per the Justice Department reports, the two would attract victims through fancy parties and social media between 2019 and 2023. At one point, they even projected the OmegaPro logo onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa to build credibility. But behind the glitz was a scam.
The funds were never traded, and when the firm claimed it was hacked, the money was “moved” to another fake platform called Broker Group. Victims never got their money back.
“This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,” said Guy Ficco of the IRS Criminal Investigation. Both Sims and Reynoso face up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. A similar case was reported in the UK, where two men were sentenced to jail over a 2 million crypto scam through cold calls.
Meanwhile, according to a recent report by Elliptic, U.S. crypto scams increased by 9.3 billion in 2024. The report provides resources and knowledge to assist compliance teams to identify and prevent the rising crypto fraud. Investors need to be cautious and ensure that they thoroughly check investment opportunities to ensure that they do not become victims of crypto scams as they continue to increase.
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