Wanted by the FBI, caught in a Tenerife hotel: the mastermind of a $650 million crypto fraud

It is the kind of arrest that shows the Canaries sit in the middle of international criminal cases: in a hotel in Guía de Isora, in sunny southwest Tenerife, the handcuffs went on this week. The man arrested is regarded as a key figure in OmegaPro — an alleged investment fraud led by the FBI, with losses put at more than $650 million.

According to the Guardia Civil, the man, described as a former director of the company, was wanted on an international arrest warrant and had been staying on the island. Routine checks to track down fugitives put officers from the Guía de Isora post on his trail. He was arrested and is in pre-trial custody until he is handed over to the requesting authority. The force has not released his name.

300 percent returns — the promise that wasn't

To understand why this case affects so many people, look at the scheme. OmegaPro was founded in 2019 and presented itself as a dazzling investment vehicle. The promise cited by US prosecutors: 300 percent returns over 16 months, supposedly generated by "elite traders" on the foreign exchange (forex) market. Investors were told to pay for their "investment packages" in cryptocurrency.

In reality, US prosecutors allege, it was a pyramid-style Ponzi scheme dressed up as a multi-level marketing network: payouts to early investors came essentially from the deposits of later ones, not from real trading profits. When the scheme began to wobble, OmegaPro announced a supposed "hack" in late 2022 and told investors their money was being moved to a new platform called Broker Group. In the end almost no one could withdraw — the money was gone.

In July 2025 the US Department of Justice charged two alleged key figures: a co-founder and promoter, and the person who ran the Latin America operation. Each faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. The roughly $650 million in cryptocurrency was allegedly obscured through a web of shell companies and personal accounts.

The glamour factor: football stars on stage

What made OmegaPro so effective was the staging. The logo was projected onto the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, at a spectacle in Dubai. On social media the operators flaunted luxury cars, designer clothes, five-star holidays. And at the promotional events, well-known footballers appeared — current and former.

Care is needed here, and so let it be said plainly: according to Spanish media investigations, players and ex-players such as Vinícius Júnior, Luís Figo, Iker Casillas, Ronaldinho and Carles Puyol took part in OmegaPro promotional events, and some at times promoted it on their social channels. That does not automatically make them accomplices or perpetrators. The legal question of what responsibility celebrity endorsers bear for a product later exposed as fraud is unresolved. Puyol's spokeswoman, for example, said the former Barça captain was merely there privately ("on holiday") at one event and not connected to the company. Most of those named have not responded to enquiries. For investors, though, this celebrity sheen was often the decisive signal of trust — "How can it be a scam if footballers are involved and the logo is lit up on that skyscraper?", as one victim put it to Spanish media.

The warning signs came early — and in abundance

Tellingly, OmegaPro had long been on regulators' radar. Spain's markets watchdog CNMV placed the company on its list of "chiringuitos financieros" — unauthorised financial providers — as early as January 2020. Regulators in France, Belgium, Colombia and Peru also warned. The big promotional events with the footballers nonetheless still took place in 2022, when the warnings had long been public.

What this means for the islands

For the Canaries, the case cuts both ways. On one hand it shows the islands — for all their postcard idyll — serve as a place of refuge for internationally wanted individuals, precisely because foreign residents and long-stay tourists can move about inconspicuously here. In recent months several fugitives wanted by Interpol, the FBI or EU states have been caught on Tenerife. On the other, it is a reminder that investment fraud knows no borders: OmegaPro's victims are in Spain, Latin America and around the world — and similar offers no doubt circulate among the islands' British and other foreign residents too. Anyone investing their savings here should bring the same scepticism as anywhere: if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.