Suspect in Major OmegaPro Financial Scam Arrested in Tenerife. Spanish authorities have arrested in Tenerife a man wanted by the FBI in connection with the OmegaPro case. He is suspected of running a scheme that defrauded investors of hundreds of millions of euros. A court will decide on his extradition.
In Tenerife, Civil Guard officers have detained one of the key figures in an international investigation into the OmegaPro case—a platform that U.S. authorities consider the largest financial pyramid in recent years. According to investigators, over $650 million, equivalent to approximately €558 million, was funneled through this scheme. The arrested individual was staying at a hotel on the island and was located during routine checks on international warrants.
The operation took place in the south of Tenerife, where officers from the Guia de Isora unit organized a special operation to make the arrest. After confirming the suspect's identity, he was taken to court, which ordered that he be held in custody pending a decision on possible extradition to the United States. The detainee’s name has not been officially disclosed, but it is known that two people are involved in the case: Michael Shannon Sims, founder of OmegaPro, and Juan Carlos Reynoso, who was responsible for the platform’s operations in Latin America and partly in the U.S.
According to American investigators, since 2019 OmegaPro had been offering so-called 'investment packages' promising returns of up to 300% over 16 months. Cryptocurrency was required for purchases, complicating the tracking of financial flows. The organizers made active use of marketing: holding large-scale events, showcasing a luxurious lifestyle on social networks, and enlisting famous footballers—including Ronaldinho and Luis Figo—to promote the project.
Case materials indicate that Reynoso repeatedly assured potential clients that OmegaPro possessed legal licenses or did not require them. In January 2020, the Spanish regulator CNMV officially warned that the company had no right to provide investment services in Spain. The collected funds were transferred to digital wallets controlled by management and then distributed among top promoters to conceal the origin of the money.
The scheme lasted until January 2023, when OmegaPro announced an alleged cyberattack. The management assured investors that their funds would be transferred to a new platform, Broker Group, but no one was able to recover their investment. Both suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. Each of these crimes carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS-CI), and the immigration service HSI, with support from law enforcement agencies in Colombia, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Issues of international cooperation and extradition in such cases are becoming increasingly relevant for Spain, especially amid the rise in financial crimes involving cryptocurrencies. In this context, it is worth noting that the country had already discussed difficulties in working with foreign jurisdictions, as was the case with corruption investigations in Catalonia.
For reference: according to Europol, the number of cryptocurrency fraud cases in Europe has more than doubled over the past five years. Spain is among the countries where such schemes are most frequently uncovered thanks to cooperation with international organizations. In the OmegaPro case, the investigation became possible due to information sharing between law enforcement agencies of different countries and the active involvement of Spanish services in identifying suspects within the country.
