Juan Carlos Guzmán-Betancourt


Juan Carlos Guzmán-Betancourt is a Colombian criminal and impostor. 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.