Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MIAMI – Efrain Betancourt, Jr., 36, a dual citizen of Colombia and the United States, pleaded guilty on May 21 to operating a $66 million Ponzi scheme through his payday loan company, Sky Group USA, LLC (Sky Group).
According to the facts admitted at the change of plea hearing, Betancourt was the Chief Executive Officer and sole owner of Sky Group. Betancourt managed Sky Group and sold promissory notes to investors to raise funds. Betancourt and his co-conspirators claimed that Sky Group was in the business of funding small-dollar, short-term loans to consumer borrowers. To purportedly generate these short-term loans, Betancourt and his co-conspirators raised approximately $66 million from over 600 investors from January 2016 to March 2020.
Betancourt made materially false statements to investors regarding the use of their funds, including that investor funds would be used for the sole purpose of making consumer loans and associated business costs. In truth, Betancourt operated a Ponzi scheme, generating revenue primarily through new investor money and using the newly raised money to make scheduled payments to previous investors. Sky Group only made about $12.2 million off consumer loans, and Betancourt and his co-conspirators used millions of dollars to pay undisclosed sales agent commissions. Betancourt misappropriated over $6.5 million for his own personal use, including a luxurious wedding at a chateau in France and other lavish group vacations with friends and family.
Betancourt’s sentencing hearing is set for August 14 before U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles. Betancourt faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida; acting Special Agent in Charge Brett D. Skiles of the FBI Miami; and Russell C. Weigel, III, Commissioner, Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) made the announcement.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had a parallel proceeding against Betancourt, relating to the same investment fraud scheme alleged in the indictment. The SEC’s proceeding was resolved in July 2022.
FBI Miami, the FBI’s South Florida Fraud Task Force, and OFR investigated the case. SEC’s Miami Regional Office provided assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Cruz is prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabrielle Raemy Charest-Turken is handling asset forfeiture.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-20399.
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