Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt Thief of Colombian origin Country: Colombia

Biography of Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt

Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt, a Colombian-born thief, gained notoriety for his international criminal activities. He was arrested on September 21, 2009, for robbery in Las Vegas in 2006. Throughout his criminal career, Guzman-Betancourt used about ten different aliases. His natural charm and eloquent speech allowed him to easily infiltrate highly secured premises. In 2005, he managed to escape from a prison in London by convincing the authorities to release him without an escort, claiming he needed to visit a dentist.

Guzman-Betancourt was eventually arrested near the American-Canadian border in September 2009, charged with illegal reentry into the United States after deportation. Contacting his lawyer proved to be a difficult task. English police compared him to the legendary American con artist Frank Abagnale, who served as the inspiration for the main character in the movie "Catch Me If You Can," portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. In the UK, Guzman-Betancourt, known as Gonzalo Zapater Vives, was arrested after a series of successful hotel robberies in 1998. He was released on bail but failed to make the bail payment. Over the following years, authorities repeatedly attempted to arrest him, but the fraudster always managed to escape punishment.

In 2004, his criminal career was interrupted when an off-duty police officer recognized him in a supermarket in Mayfair. Juan was arrested and spent the following year in prison for the robberies at the Dorchester and Mandarin Oriental hotels. During the trial, prosecutors vividly described how Guzman-Betancourt gained the trust of staff at upscale London establishments, posing as a wealthy guest who had lost his keys or forgot the security code. The staff willingly assisted the esteemed gentleman, granting him access to other people's safes, which the con artist swiftly emptied.

According to the final sentence, the fraudster was supposed to spend three and a half years behind bars, but in practice, he served only two months. He escaped from a poorly guarded prison on the southeast coast of England, persuading the guards to let him go to the dentist. A global manhunt for the fugitive prisoner quickly ensued, but the con artist, who the British press already compared to Raffles, the fictional "gentleman thief" from E.W. Hornung's works, was already far away.

He was arrested again in the same month in Dublin. An Irish judge signed an extradition order to France in December 2006. However, before reaching France, Juan skillfully disappeared on the way. Authorities in Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Thailand, and Venezuela are still searching for him. His most recent American charges include theft in Virginia and credit card fraud in Florida.

On September 21, 2009, Juan was apprehended at the American-Canadian border. He attempted to convince the border officer that his car broke down on Canadian territory, and he had simply gotten lost. However, the law enforcement officer recognized him and saw through his lies. In the con artist's possession, they found a Spanish passport under the name Jordi Eyarke-Rodriguez, with stamps from Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Oman. His identity was definitively confirmed through fingerprint analysis. Currently, the legendary fraudster is in the hands of the authorities, but his future remains uncertain. The most probable fate for him at that time was deportation to Colombia.