Robert Velghe, the manager of the cryptocurrency platform OmegaPro, was arrested in a large-scale fraud investigation, according to several media outlets. The Dutch CEO of the platform was detained in Istanbul in September, following the earlier arrest of Swedish co-founder Andreas Szakas in July. The two men, who founded OmegaPro in 2018, are accused of orchestrating a multi-million Euro scam that affected thousands of investors.
OmegaPro was registered in the Caribbean shortly after its founding and has its headquarters in Dubai. The platform quickly attracted a large number of investors, promising extremely high returns of up to 300% within 16 months. OmegaPro reported earnings of $4 billion in a short period.
In February 2023, the French public prosecutor launched an investigation into OmegaPro’s business activities after numerous complaints from investors. Around 2,000 individuals in France filed complaints, accusing the company of fraud and misleading business practices. The investigation focuses on allegations of organized fraud, with particular emphasis on the pyramid-scheme nature of OmegaPro’s operations.
Turkish authorities arrested the two executives and confiscated computers, mobile devices, and 32 cryptocurrency wallets linked to the suspects. These wallets revealed transactions exceeding 160 million Euros. The data collected by Turkish law enforcement is part of a broader international investigation that could involve additional individuals.
Turkish investigators suspect that OmegaPro was not operating independently but was connected to a larger fraud network, possibly involving Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian founder of OneCoin, another cryptocurrency system implicated in a massive international fraud. Ignatova, known as the “Crypto Queen,” has been missing since 2017, after investigations into her involvement in a billion-dollar scam with OneCoin.
