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Ex-Guatemalan Investment Adviser Sentenced to Federal Prison for Stealing Over $10 Million
CONCORD – Roberto Montano, a/k/a Jorge Roberto Montano Midence, a/k/a Roberto Pellegrini, a/k/a Alberto Yardi, 58, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty to 60 months in prison and one year of supervised release for stealing over $10 million from a New Hampshire-based investment company, U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young announces.
Roberto Montano, a Guatemalan citizen, managed two forestry projects in Guatemala for a New Hampshire-based investment adviser between 2007 and 2014. Beginning in approximately late 2009, Montano embezzled the projects’ funds by diverting cash and concealing the diversions using altered bank and financial statements, mortgaging the projects’ properties without authorization and investing the proceeds in failed business ventures, and stealing teak forestry subsidies paid by the Guatemalan government.
Montano was sentenced to 60 months in prison and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud on February 13, 2024. “The defendant’s theft was egregious. Over the course of several years, he stole more than $10 million and squandered the funds on a series of failed investments,” U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young said.
The FBI was actively engaged in efforts to locate and arrest Montano since 2014. In 2022, the FBI received multiple reports that Montano was living in a resort town on the Pacific Coast in Nicaragua. After that, Montano agreed to meet with federal agents at the airport in Managua, Nicaragua, and flew to Miami International Airport. Once he was arrested in Miami, Montano provided law enforcement a five-page document admitting his guilt. “I am guilty. I abused the trust [the victim] placed in me,” Montano wrote.
Montano participated in two Skype calls with the victim, admitting to embezzlement and fraud totaling approximately $10 million. He fled the United States for Guatemala and later moved to Nicaragua, where he was living under an alias as a life coach and yoga instructor.
The case against Montano is a prime example of the FBI’s determination to bring financial fraudsters to justice, no matter where in the world they try to hide. “Robert Montano actively led his client to believe they were investing responsibly, putting their money into low-risk projects. But as his lies continued and the losses mounted to $10 million, Mr. Montano engaged in a cover-up, trying to conceal this staggering fraud before fleeing the U.S.,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division.
Mandatory Facts:
- Defendant: Roberto Montano (a/k/a Jorge Roberto Montano Midence, a/k/a Roberto Pellegrini, a/k/a Alberto Yardi)
- Criminal Charges: One count of wire fraud
- City and State: Concord, New Hampshire
- Date: February 13, 2024
- Sentence: 60 months in prison and one year of supervised release
- Dollar Amount: Over $10 million
Key Facts
- State: New Hampshire
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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