Miami man pleads guilty to stealing millions from Venezuelans for wedding at French chateau
Efrain Betancourt Jr., a dual citizen of the United States and Colombia, obtained about $66 million from more than 600 Venezuelan-American investors in the Miami area that he churned through his payday loan company, Sky Group USA, over a five-year period, according to a plea agreement filed last week.
Of that total, his company made about $12.2 million in consumer loans, but he and other employees spent the rest of the investors' money on operating costs, sales agent commissions and personal expenses, according to a factual statement filed with the plea agreement.
Betancourt, 36, who was born in Venezuela and grew up in the Miami area, pocketed more than $6.5 million that he spent on his French Riviera wedding as well Caribbean vacations, expensive jewelry, a private plane and a luxury high-rise condo on Biscayne Boulevard, the statement said.
Betancourt, the former Sky Group CEO, will likely be ordered by U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles to pay a forfeiture of $8.3 million as part of his sentencing, a higher loss figure that includes additional credit card expenses, according to federal prosecutor Roger Cruz. He plans to dismiss six wire fraud counts in Betancourt's indictment at his sentencing.
Betancourt has been in federal custody since his arrest last November by FBI agents at Miami International Airport, after Cruz argued he was a flight risk to Latin America or the United Arab Emirates.
Betancourt, represented by defense attorney Sam Rabin, cut his plea deal in Miami federal court last Wednesday — about three years after he and his company reached a civil settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC lawyers accused him of using his payday loan business to swindle investors, and a federal judge ordered him and his company to pay back more than $39 million.
'Ponzi scheme'
But since the settlement agreement that he and Sky Group struck with the SEC, Bentacourt's investors have received nothing for their losses, according to authorities.
Both the SEC and federal prosecutors accused Betancourt of operating a 'Ponzi scheme' that began in 2016 by selling promissory notes to investors with promises of double- and triple-digit annual returns. Some investors were paid back in part, but most were not, leaving a huge debt after Sky Group imploded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Betancourt's scheme collapsed when countless borrowers defaulted on their payday loans during the pandemic. His company, Sky Group, incurred a severe cash-flow problem and was unable to make interest payments on investors' promissory notes.
'Never paid a dime'
A Miami lawyer representing three investors who won civil arbitration cases against Betancourt said he brought the investment scheme to the SEC's attention five years ago.
'He never paid a dime to resolve the claims,' attorney Richard Diaz told the Miami Herald. 'My clients and I are looking forward to personally attending his sentencing to express to the judge the gravity of his greed and fraud, which economically devastated, not just hurt, many families.'
Cruz, the prosecutor, wrote in court papers that 'millions of dollars in fraudulent proceeds directly obtained by this defendant have disappeared, were funneled by him to his wife and other family members, and have otherwise been transferred oversees.'
Buys luxury condo at Epic: feds
According to the SEC, Betancourt misappropriated investors' money for his personal use, including costs associated with buying a $1.5 million condominium at Epic Residences on Biscayne Boulevard and for service on his personal Piper airplane.
Betancourt was also accused of transferring at least another $3.6 million to friends and family, including his ex-wife, Angelica Betancourt, and to EEB Capital Group LLC for 'no apparent legitimate business purpose,' SEC officials said.
That company's bank accounts were controlled by Efrain Betancourt and his current wife, Leidy Badillo.
In a SEC settlement in 2022, EEB Capital agreed to pay $2.2 million toward the judgment against Sky Group and Efrain Betancourt.
Angelica Betancourt argued that she only earned an annual salary of $60,000 from the payday loan company, according to court records. But in 2022, she also agreed to pay about $1.1 million toward the judgment against Sky Group and her ex-husband..
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28 minutes ago
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