Bell helicopter official accused in Puerto Rico fraud scheme cleared of wrongdoing
A Bell vice president accused of being involved in a scheme to inflate the price of helicopters in a sale to the Puerto Rican government had his case dismissed on Friday.
Javier “Jay” Ortiz-Torres, vice president/managing director of Fort Worth-based Bell’s Latin America Commercial Business, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in 2018. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico filed a motion for the case to be dismissed, and a federal judge accepted the request Friday.
“He’s very relieved and grateful,” Ortiz-Torres’ attorney, Richard Roper, said about his client. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He shouldn’t have been indicted.”
Ortiz-Torres was indicted in December 2018 alongside Ernesto S. Digregorio-Godoy, president/owner of the helicopter company Ecolift Corporation in Puerto Rico.
Ortiz-Torres and Digregorio-Godoy were accused of scheming to defraud the Puerto Rican government, according to the federal indictment filed in Puerto Rico. The allegations against Ortiz-Torres included a conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Digregorio-Godoy is accused of buying four Bell helicopters and signing an agreement with the Puerto Rican government to resell them at an inflated cost in 2013. The sale included three Bell model 429 helicopters and one model 407.
Digregorio-Godoy was also accused of replacing a 2014 model helicopter with a 2013 model. On Friday, all fraud charges against Digregorio-Godoy were also dismissed. The remaining charges against Digregorio-Godoy accuse him of smuggling-related offenses.
“The accusation that he (Ortiz-Torres) committed fraud and wire fraud and lied on a bank statement — they were just simply not true,” Roper said. “He did nothing wrong. And I’m glad we were able to convince the Department of Justice not to proceed to trial.”
