OmegaPro Founders Charged: DOJ Unseals Indictment for $650M Global Crypto Ponzi Scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment exposing one of the most egregious digital Ponzi schemes. At the center of the case: OmegaPro, a global crypto investment platform that allegedly siphoned over $650 million in virtual currency from unsuspecting investors under the guise of wealth creation through forex trading.

Charged in the sweeping indictment are Michael Shannon Sims, 48, of Georgia and Florida, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, 57, of New Jersey and Florida. The two are accused of spearheading an international multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme fueled by false promises, digital glamor, and social media illusion.

“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,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.

OmegaPro was founded in January 2019, positioning itself as an elite investment vehicle delivering 300% returns in just 16 months. Investors were asked to purchase “packages” using cryptocurrency, supposedly to be traded by top-tier forex professionals.

But according to the DOJ, those trades were fictional.

“OmegaPro promised financial freedom but delivered financial ruin – stealing over $650 million from everyday people and vanishing it into virtual currency,” said Chief Guy Ficco of IRS-CI.

Reynoso, who led operations across Latin America and Puerto Rico, and Sims, who acted as a consultant and public face of the brand, built the illusion of legitimacy by hosting extravagant promotional events around the globe—including a projection of the OmegaPro logo onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

They flaunted expensive vacations, luxury cars, and designer labels across social media in a calculated effort to lure in new victims. As U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow put it:

“The defendants operated a global fraud scheme… deceiving investors with false promises of extraordinary returns, only to misappropriate hundreds of millions of victim funds.”

In early 2023, OmegaPro claimed to have suffered a network hack. Reynoso and his associates assured investors their funds were safe and being moved to a new platform dubbed Broker Group. But victims quickly realized they had no access to either their OmegaPro or Broker Group accounts—millions vanished overnight.

Despite promises of asset transfer and continued growth, the DOJ alleges the real destination of investor funds was a web of wallet addresses controlled by OmegaPro executives.

The DOJ asserts that OmegaPro’s founders laundered the stolen funds, routing them through multiple virtual currency wallets to obfuscate the trail.

“These weren’t just scams; they were precision-engineered betrayals,” said Ficco. “Our job is to stand up for those who’ve been exploited.”

Both Sims and Reynoso allegedly pocketed millions. They now face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison per count.

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