Latest news with #OmegaPro
Forbes
20-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
OmegaPro Operators Charged Over $650 Million Investment Scam
Under the electronic board showing the Nikkei index and the US-Japan exchange rate, currency dealers ... More wait for their clients' orders at Ueda Harlow, a foreign exchange trading company in Tokyo Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) Many people are probably not familiar with forex trading. Forex trading is the name of the very speculative investment of trading foreign currencies. Forex traders base their investments on expected price movements of currencies, economic indicators, the political climate and technical analysis. It is not for the faint hearted. The forex market is the largest financial market in the world with more than $7.5 trillion traded daily It is not an investment for inexperienced investors and while it certainly is legal, there have been many investment scams involving forex trading. Recently, Michael Shannon Sims and Juan Carlos Reynoso were charged with wire fraud and money laundering related to the activities of their company OmegaPro. According to the indictment, Sims and Reynoso operated OmegaPro between 2019 and 2023 posing as a legitimate investment platform in which they promised their investors returns of up to 300% in 16 months through elite forex trading. Ultimately, according to the Justice Department, Sims and Reynoso swindled their victims out of more than 650 million dollars. The indictment indicates alleges Sims and Reynoso lured their victims into investing with them by hosting lavish promotional events throughout the world, including projecting their OmegaPro logo on to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world during a promotional event in Dubai. Sims and Reynoso also projected a wildly successful lifestyle on social media displaying expensive vacations, cars, designer clothes and watches to convince potential investors of their credibility. The unfortunate truth is that no trading actually occurred. Rather, OmegaPro operated as a Ponzi scheme paying off earlier investors with funds derived from later investors while, according to the Justice Department, Sims and Reynoso stole the investors' money to fund the lifestyle they showed so vividly on social media. In addition, not satisfied with operating a phony investment firm, Sims and Reynoso are accused of operating OmegaPro as a pyramid scheme in which their "investors" would earn payments for bringing in new investor-victims into the scam. The more money their investors brought in, the greater the payments they received. Eventually, the scam collapsed, as most Ponzi schemes do, under its own weight and in 2023, investors were told that the company had been hacked, but that OmegaPro was transferring the investments to another platform called Broker Group, however, despite representations that the funds of investors were safe, the victims of the scam were unable to access either their accounts at OmegaPro or their supposed new accounts at BrokerGroup. On July 8, 2025 indictments against both Michael Shannon Sims and Juan Carolos Reynoso were unsealed in the federal court for the District of Puerto Rico charging both men with wire fraud and money laundering. Each man faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each charge. According to Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, 'As alleged, the defendants preyed upon vulnerable individuals in the U.S. and abroad, defrauding them of over $650 million by making false promises of substantial returns and that their money was safe.' There are a number of lessons all investors should take from this case. No one should ever invest in anything they don't understand. Forex investing is risky and complicated and should not be done unless you are knowledgeable about trading in foreign currencies. Due diligence, for anyone considering investing in a company that does forex trading should include reading reviews of the investment company on sites such as Trustpilot and Forex Peace Army. In addition, before investing with anyone, you should also investigate the person offering to sell you the investment with FINRA's Broker Check. This will tell you if the broker is licensed and if there have been disciplinary procedures against him or her. You can also check with your own state's securities regulation office for similar information. Many investment advisers will not be required to register with the SEC, but are required to register with your individual state securities regulators. You can find your state's agency by going to the website of the North American Securities Administrators Association. If investors had done their due diligence and looked into the backgrounds of Michael Shannon Sims and Juan Carlos Reynoso they would have learned that neither of them had any professional investment licenses, broker-dealer registrations or forex trading certifications and avoided being a victim of this investment scam.
Miami Herald
16-07-2025
- Miami Herald
Two men with Florida ties charged in alleged $650 million global crypto fraud
Two men with connections to Florida are at the center of a sweeping federal indictment unsealed last week in Puerto Rico, accused of orchestrating a massive international fraud scheme that stole more than $650 million from cryptocurrency investors around the world. Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with OmegaPro, an online investment platform that prosecutors say was actually a global pyramid scheme. If convicted, Sims and Reynoso each face up to 20 years in federal prison on each count. Federal authorities say OmegaPro lured thousands of victims from the U.S., Latin America and beyond — including Florida and Puerto Rico — with false promises of extraordinary returns, up to 300% in just 16 months, supposedly through foreign-exchange trading. But prosecutors say there were no elite traders — just a sophisticated scam. 'The defendants preyed upon vulnerable individuals in the U.S. and abroad, defrauding them of over $650 million by making false promises of substantial returns and that their money was safe,' said Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. According to the indictment, Sims and Reynoso — along with other co-conspirators — operated the scheme from 2019 to 2023 by selling cryptocurrency-based 'investment packages' and claiming the funds would be managed by expert foreign-exchange traders. Instead, investigators say the money was funneled into crypto wallets controlled by OmegaPro insiders, who then laundered and concealed the funds. Both Sims and Reynoso allegedly pocketed millions. Sims is identified as a founder, consultant, and top promoter of OmegaPro, while Reynoso allegedly ran operations across Latin America and parts of the U.S., including South Florida and Puerto Rico. To build credibility, prosecutors say Sims boasted of OmegaPro's trading prowess and promoted its so-called 'elite' traders. Reynoso is accused of assuring investors that OmegaPro was fully licensed — or alternatively, that it didn't fall under any country's regulations. They also went to great lengths to project an image of success, hosting extravagant events around the globe, including one in Dubai, where the OmegaPro logo was splashed across the famed Burj Khalifa skyscraper. On social media, they flaunted luxury lifestyles — high-end cars, designer watches, private jets — all allegedly paid for with investor money. By January 2023, the operation began to unravel. OmegaPro claimed it had suffered a 'network hack,' sparking panic among investors. Reynoso and others promised the funds would be transferred to a new platform, Broker Group — but victims say their money was never returned. 'This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime,' said Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Chief Guy Ficco. 'OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin — stealing over $650 million from everyday people and vanishing it into virtual currency.'
CNBC
08-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Two charged in $650 million global crypto scam that promised 300% returns
Federal prosecutors have charged two men in connection with a sprawling cryptocurrency investment scheme that defrauded victims out of more than $650 million. The indictment, unsealed in the District of Puerto Rico, accuses Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida, of operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international crypto multi-level marketing scheme that promised investors 300% returns over 16 months through foreign exchange trading. "This case exposes the ruthless reality of modern financial crime," said the Internal Revenue Service's Chief of Criminal Investigations Guy Ficco. "OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin." From 2019 to 2023, Sims and Reynoso allegedly lured thousands of victims worldwide to purchase "investment packages" using cryptocurrency, falsely claiming the funds would be safely managed by elite forex traders, the Department of Justice said. Prosecutors said the pair flaunted their wealth through social media and extravagant events — including projecting the OmegaPro logo onto the Burj Khalifa, Dubai's tallest building — to convince investors the operation was legitimate. A video posted to the company's LinkedIn page shows guests in evening attire posing for photos and watching the spectacle in Dubai. In reality, authorities allege, OmegaPro was a pyramid-style fraud. When the company later claimed it had suffered a hack, the defendants told victims they had transferred their funds to a new platform called Broker Group, the DOJ said. Users were never able to withdraw their money from either platform. The two men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The Justice Department, FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations led the multiagency investigation, with help from international partners.
