Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: U.S. charges former employee of aviation fuel supplier with obstructing investigation, (Feb 25, 2014)
Organizations Mentioned:Aviation Fuel International, Inc. | Ryan International Airlines | U.S. Department of Homeland Security
By Jeffrey May, J.D.
A former employee of fuel supply service company Aviation Fuel International, Inc. (AFI) pleaded guilty yesterday to a one-count felony charge of obstructing justice. Craig Perez admitted to obstructing an ongoing federal investigation into fraud and anticompetitive conduct in the airline charter services industry (U.S. v. Perez, Criminal No. 14-00041-01-CR-W-DW).
According to the charge, Perez in 2011 knowingly destroyed relevant files from his laptop computer relating to his employment at AFI during 2007 and 2008 with the intent to impede the investigation into kickback payments made by AFI and its employees to the former vice president of ground operations for Ryan International Airlines.
Ryan provided air passenger and cargo services for corporations, private individuals and the U.S. government-including the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Wayne Kepple, as vice president of ground operations, was in charge of contracting with suppliers on behalf of Ryan and approving the invoices submitted by the providers to Ryan for payment.
In August 2013, a grand jury in the federal district court in West Palm Beach indicted AFI and the company’s former owner, Sean E. Wagner, for making kickback payments to Kepple in order to win contracts with Ryan. A month later, Kepple was sentenced by the federal district court in West Palm Beach to serve 87 months in prison, after pleading guilty to participating in a series of kickback schemes. In 2011, Kepple was charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud, as well as three counts of wire fraud in connection with the schemes. The case against AFI and Wagner remains pending.
“The Antitrust Division will hold accountable those who attempt to conceal their illegal actions and obstruct a government investigation,” said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, announcing the plea. “Destroying evidence in an attempt to undermine a federal investigation is a crime the division takes very seriously.”
Companies: Aviation Fuel International, Inc.; Ryan International Airlines
News: Antitrust AntitrustDivisionNews