The cryptocurrency sector comprises various legitimate projects and innovations but is also rife with fraudulent schemes.
One such scam reportedly pocketed billions of euros from its unsuspecting clients after using popular football players as backers.
Painful Losses Following the Footballers’ Involvement
El Diario – a Spanish digital newspaper known for its investigative journalism – recently claimed that a dubious cryptocurrency project, called Omegapro, embezzled a whopping €3 billion from hundreds of its clients. The media company described the entity as a typical pyramid scheme that promised enormous returns in just 14 months after investing and used numerous football stars as promoters.
The names include icons like Kaká, Luis Figo, Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Fernando Hierro, Ronaldinho, Carles Puyol, and more. According to the report, some of the players endorsed Omegapro during promotional events, while others did so on social media platforms.
To the uninitiated ones, Casillas, Carlos, and Hierro are among the biggest Real Madrid legends, having won all major tournaments with “Los Blancos” (the team’s nickname due to its kits’ color). Ronaldinho and Puyol, on the other hand, played for Real’s biggest rival – FC Barcelona – and were just as successful.
El Diario interviewed some of the defrauded investors, and all said the football players’ involvement was one reason they jumped on the bandwagon. Dolores, who lost her life savings (€18,000), stated:
“How was it supposed to be a scam? If even the footballers were involved and the company’s logo was projected on the skyscraper in Dubai!”
According to the newspaper, three of Omegapro’s main executives are already behind bars, and another two are still at large. An attorney representing the victims promised to bring before the judge all the football stars who directly or indirectly endorsed the scheme.
The fraud took place in 2022 and impacted investors from all over the globe. It is worth noting that the Spanish Securities Market Commission had added Omegapro to its list of non-transparent financial businesses two years prior to the scam.
Not Something New for Ronaldinho
One of the stars mentioned above – Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (better known as Ronaldinho) – has been linked to another suspicious crypto scheme before.
This happened last summer when the Brazilian authorities launched an investigation against him for alleged participation in a scam dubbed “18kRonaldinho.” The project offered generous but false profits of 2% per day to those who invested at least $30 in digital assets.
At first, the Ballon d’Or winner for 2005 did not visit court to shed more light on his potential role in the entity. Later, “18kRonaldinho” was exposed as a Ponzi scheme, but the former football star distanced himself from the project. He claimed his role was limited to promotional activities, while his name and image had been used without his complete understanding or authorization.
