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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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6

US Cops Nab International Chameleon Conman

Smooth-talking Colombian scammed luxury hotels in many countries

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(Newser) – A Colombian fraudster wanted in seven countries has been arrested after entering the US from Canada on a phony passport. Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt, known to have at least 10 aliases, made his living scamming luxury hotels, often pretending to be a guest who had forgotten the combination to his safe before making off with the safe's contents.

Guzman-Betancourt's first known scam came in 1993, when he pretended to be a 13-year-old Cuban orphan who came to Miami hanging onto a plane's landing gear. Gifts and donations poured in before it came to light that he was 17 and his parents were still very much alive. He was jailed for theft in Britain in 2005 but escaped after talking prison authorities into letting him go to a dental appointment unaccompanied.

This April 2005 file photo released by London's Metropolitan Police shows Colombian Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt at Southwark Crown Court in London.
This April 2005 file photo released by London's Metropolitan Police shows Colombian Juan Carlos Guzman-Betancourt at Southwark Crown Court in London.   (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police)
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He is a highly accomplished liar—plausible, believable and very professional. He commits these offences for a living and is, therefore, incredibly well versed in identity theft, hotel and foreign travel.
- British detective Andy Swindells

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MarkMcJackoff
Sep 30, 09 7:27 AM CDT
Ño doubt he'll be out and about in no time! I find it so much easier to tolerate this type of criminal than someone like the Paedo-Polanski. Scamming luxury hotels,creditcard identity theft, renting a Bentley for 2 weeks and not paying - all quite amusing really. And the Cuban orphan story - just wonderful! Reply
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Alan_Harrington
Sep 30, 09 8:52 AM CDT
would it still be all quite amusing if he did it with one of your credit cards? or stole the contents of your safe? this would be amusing if it was in a movie, not real life. yeah, he's not a pedo-raper, but he's still a POS criminal
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sabinerogers
Sep 30, 09 9:07 AM CDT
Getting Guzman-Betancourt behind bars was a big achievement, given that he has been alluding police in dozens of countries around the world for over a decade, assuming a number of highly original identities. Sceneadvisor.com did a rather interesting "guide" on tracking Guzman-Betancourt's haunts. Fun stuff Reply
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Spudsy
Sep 30, 09 5:30 PM CDT
That first scam at 17 is amazing. If this kid was legit he could have been a super salesman. I guess he just didn't see it. Reply
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paper
Oct 1, 09 12:52 PM CDT
wasted talent. Reply
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