Juan Carlos Guzmán-Betancourt

Juan Carlos Guzmán-Betancourt (born 1976) is a Colombian impostor and conman. Guzmán is believed to have stolen at least $1 million in various countries. He has used at least ten different false identities and has been pursued in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Thailand and Japan.

Early life

Guzmán was born in 1976 in Roldanillo, Colombia. On June 4, 1993, he traveled to Miami as a wheel-well stowaway, calling himself Guillermo Rosales. As an unnamed male, "13 years old", he was listed in the FAA report on flights with stowaways.

Criminal record

Betancourt was first arrested in the United Kingdom in 1998 on suspicion of four burglaries at Le Méridien Piccadilly Hotel, and of using a stolen credit card. In the U.S. states of Virginia and New York, Guzmán was convicted of larceny and credit card fraud in Florida, being deported from the U.S. three times. In 2010 Betancourt was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for entering the United States illegally from Canada. He had in his possession a passport from Spain with his photo and a false name (Jordi Ejarque-Rodriguez) obtained from the Spanish consulate in Abu Dhabi.

Television portrayal

Betancourt is portrayed in the third season of the popular British series Con Men Case Files in the fifth episode entitled "The Perfect 5 Star Hotel Con" (2011).

References

External links

• Initial story by The New York Times

• Podcast Episode by "Scamfluencers"