Federal Court Judge Sentences Colombian Payday Loan Scammer Efrain Betancourt, Jr. To 7 Years in Prison

A federal judge in Miami has sentenced Colombian payday loan scammer to 87 months in federal prison. Efrain Betancourt, Jr., orchestrating a scheme that defrauded more than 600 investors out of over $66 million. Betancourt was the chief executive officer and sole owner of Sky Group USA, LLC (Sky Group). Sky Group to be a purported payday loan business. Betancourt sold promissory notes to investors for over four years. He told them the funds were being used to raise money to fund Sky Group’s payday loan business.

Interest from payday loans clients would then purportedly be used to repay promissory note investors. However, Betancourt never paid investors the millions of dollars the company received from customers. In other words, it was all one big Ponzi scheme. Betancourt also used over $7.5 million of investor funds for personal use. This included a luxury chateau wedding in France and expensive jewelry. He also bought a Miami condominium and used the funds to pay for family vacations.

The indictment alleges Betancourt offered promissory notes to Sky Group investors with yearly returns ranging from 24% to 120%. Betancourt allegedly told investors their funds would be used to disburse payday loans to Sky Group clients. 

Over 600 investors invested in Sky Group, many of whom were Venezuelan.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also had a parallel proceeding against Betancourt related to the same investment fraud scheme. The SEC resolved their proceedings in July 2022.

Federal sentencing guidelines indicate Betancourt was facing a maximum total penalty of 140 years in imprisonment. 

You Can Read More About Bettencourt’s Payday Loan Scam On MFI-Miami.com below:

Colombian National Arrested For Fake Payday Loan Company