Guatemalan man pleads guilty to embezzling millions from NH-based investor

New Hampshire Union Leader

Feb. 13—A Guatemalan man has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling millions of dollars from teak farms backed by a New Hampshire-based investment company, prosecutors said this week.

Roberto Montano, a/k/a Jorge Roberto Montano Midence, a/k/a Roberto Pellegrini, a/k/a Alberto Yardi, 58, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Jane Young announced Tuesday. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Landya B. McCafferty scheduled sentencing for May 30. Montano was charged by complaint in 2015 and indicted in 2021.

Montano is a Guatemalan citizen who managed two forestry projects in Guatemala for an investment fund connected to an unidentified company based in Lebanon between 2007 and 2014.

Beginning in approximately late 2009, prosecutors say Montano embezzled the projects' funds by diverting cash and concealing the diversions using altered bank and financial statements, and mortgaging the projects' properties without authorization and investing the proceeds in failed business ventures. Montano was also accused of stealing teak forestry subsidies paid by the Guatemalan government.

To hide his actions, prosecutors say Montano altered or deleted entries in financial statements and moved funds back-and-forth between accounts during audits. For example, the defendant provided the victim a false bank statement reporting that one of the bank accounts had a cash balance of approximately $1,147,604, when the balance was actually zero.

After Montano learned he was under investigation, prosecutors say he took part in a Skype call in 2014 with the victim in which he admitted to embezzling funds "many years ago," allegedly saying he had "cooked the books" and "illegally" mortgaged properties.

Montano was in Miami at the time and promised he would travel to New England, claimed he would not flee and added, "If I have to go to prison, I'll go to prison."

Montano instead fled the United States for Guatemala, prosecutors said. While in Guatemala, he took part in another call with the victim where he again admitted to embezzlement and fraud totaling approximately $10 million.

However, he was also wanted by Guatemalan authorities, and he moved to Nicaragua, where he has been living for several years under an alias. Most recently, Montano was known as "Alberto Yardi," a supposed life coach and yoga instructor.

Montano was arrested on Nov. 1, 2023, at Miami International Airport. Once taken into custody, Montano provided law enforcement a five-page document admitting his guilt.

The first two sentences read, "I am guilty. I abused the trust (the victim) placed in me," court documents show.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the amount stolen, whichever is greater.

Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

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