Four Individuals Indicted in Bribery Scheme to Eliminate Puerto Rico Department of Transportation Fines Publisher: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Puerto Rico Dateline: San Juan, Puerto Rico Date: 18 July 2024 Subjects: American Government , Crime

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On July 17, 2024, a federal grand jury returned a 17-count indictment charging Juan Carlos Cruz-Hernández, Verónica Forte-Roig, Nancy Báez-Flores, and Josselyn Figueroa-Rosario with participating in a bribery and wire fraud conspiracy and scheme to defraud the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP), announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. Three of the defendants were arrested today and will have their initial appearances before United States Magistrate Judge Marcos E. López of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Defendant Báez-Flores is pending arrest.

According to court documents, defendants Nancy Báez-Flores and Josselyn Figueroa-Rosario were employees of DTOP assigned to work in the regional driver service centers (CESCO) located in Caguas and Carolina, Puerto Rico. Both were responsible for accessing driver and vehicle information, and among other things, possessed the ability to remove driver and vehicle fines. Defendants Juan Carlos Cruz-Hernández and Verónica Forte-Roig negotiated and made bribe payments to Nancy Báez-Flores and Josselyn Figueroa-Rosario in exchange for certain official acts, including accessing DTOP-CESCO information, obtaining duplicate documentation, and eliminating driver and vehicle fines. 

From November 2018 to October 2023, Nancy Báez-Flores received over $62,000 in bribe payments from Juan Carlos Cruz-Hernández and Verónica Forte-Roig. From April 2019 to June 2023, Josselyn Figueroa-Rosario received over $7,000 in bribe payments from Juan Carlos Cruz-Hernández and Verónica Forte-Roig. Many of the bribe payments were made directly to Báez-Flores and Figueroa-Rosario via ATH-Móvil.

“The prosecution of public corruption offenses, at all levels of the government, remains a priority for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The bribery of government employees corrodes the public’s trust in vital institutions and will not be tolerated. Not at the municipal, commonwealth, or federal level,” said W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. “This indictment and today’s arrests reflect another step in the continued focus of the United States Attorney’s Office to bring criminals who engage in illegal bribery schemes to justice.”

“HSI is committed to investigate money laundering activities that pose a threat to our economy. It is imperative to prioritize any type of public corruption that facilitates crimes. These employees do not represent the dedicated employees of the government of Puerto Rico,” said Rebecca González-Ramos, Special Agent in Charge of HSI San Juan. “This investigation was made possible with the support of the Puerto Rico Police Bureau and the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation.”

If convicted, a maximum penalty of five years in prison applies to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, a maximum penalty of ten years in prison applies for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666(a)(2) and (a)(1)(B), and a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison applies for each violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, 1346, 1349. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Christine Amy is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Updated July 18, 2024

Press Release Number: 2024-042