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