Hundreds of Dutch lost fortunes to OmegaPro crypto pyramid scheme: report
Many hundreds, if not thousands, of Dutch people have lost money to a cryptocurrency pyramid scheme. OmegaPro promised massive returns on investments and was worth billions worldwide until the pyramid collapsed, De Telegraaf reports.
OmegaPro was founded in 2019 on the islands of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and has its head office in Dubai. It is headed by the German Dilawar S., the American Mike S., and the Swede Andreas S. The company is involved in cryptocurrency forex, the decentralized market where all foreign currencies are traded.
Many Dutch people were persuaded to invest heavily in 2022. One was convinced by a taxi driver who knew her husband. Another invested after attending an event in Istanbul. OmegaPro promised that its algorithm would yield high profits in the investment market.
But after recruiting around 3 million investors worldwide, the profit of around 4 billion euros suddenly disappeared. Late in 2022, the organization reported being hit by a hack. Investors could no longer access their wallets, and the website went dark, and the main players disappeared. According to the Telegraaf, it turned out to be an old-fashioned Ponzi scheme, with the first investors paying with the deposits of the later ones.
Andreas S. was arrested a few months later in Turkey, where he has citizenship. The authorities seized several computers and 32 “cold wallets,” which were not connected to the internet. S. refused to provide the passwords, but according to the Telegraaf, investigators were able to trace cryptocurrency movements for over 160 million euros.
Abdulghaffar M. from Alphen aan den Rijn, who recruited many Dutch investors and frequently appeared in OmegaPro promotional material, has filed a report with the Turkish authorities. He lost 7 million dollars to the scheme, according to the report.
Amsterdam lawyer Keith Cheng represents thousands of victims, including M. The lawyer told the Telegraaf that M. is a victim. “My client has been designated as a scapegoat because the real perpetrators have run off with the money. He and his family have filed a complaint of fraud, embezzlement, and deception.”
But several of the other victims think that M.’s hands aren’t clean. “There was probably a disagreement about the distribution of the money,” one victim, a Dutch-Turk, told the newspaper from Istanbul. According to him, M. now lives in Dubai and still has OmegaPro promotions on his social media.
Lawyer Peter Plasman represents twelve victims and filed a report on their behalf against ten Dutch people, including M. and his son. “This was a very sophisticated game,” the lawyer told the newspaper. “I hope that the justice system in the Netherlands will take this case on vigorously because it is very big.”
According to Plasman, pyramid scheme perpetrators later setting themselves up as victims is one of the oldest tricks in the book. “That never releases them from their liability.”
The Public Prosecution Service confirmed receiving the reports. It is investigating.
One victim told the newspaper that she invested 25,000 euros and expects to never see it again. “There are people who have invested up to a quarter of a million euros,” she said. “People have had to sell their homes. Marriages have been destroyed. There are even stories of victims who have committed suicide.”
She spoke anonymously to the newspaper for her safety. “Anyone who brings things to light is seriously threatened,” she said.
