Miami Man Sentenced to Prison for $66 Million Ponzi Scheme

Efrain Betancourt was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for his role in operating a Ponzi scheme that resulted in approximately $66 million in victim losses. Betancourt is the former Chief Executive Officer, managing member, and sole owner of Sky Group, LLC.

Betancourt claimed that Sky Group was in the business of funding small-dollar, short-term loans to consumer borrowers in exchange for monthly interest payments and the return of principal after one year. Betancourt hired more than 50 outside sales agents to solicit, offer, and sell Sky Group promissory notes to investors globally. Sky Group raised approximately $66 million from more than 600 investors and falsely represented that they had a $70 million loan portfolio generated by the payday lending operation. However, new investor funds were used to pay previous investors’ returns, and for a variety of other purposes.

This investigation was developed jointly with the OFR and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with assistance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

Read the press release.