Courtesy Freepik
Cole Sinanian
Attorney General Letitia James announced December 10 that five people had been indicted for bribery and money laundering schemes they had used at JFK airport to manipulate Delta Airlines into signing contracts with the cargo companies they owned.
James revealed in a press release that a major investigation by her office and the Port Authority of New York had led to an array of charges against Raymond Kayume, Joseph Puzzo, Irfan Syed, Beau Baer, and a fifth unnamed co-conspirator, including commercial bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, and scheme to defraud.
The accused allegedly bribed high-ranking Delta employees at JFK using fraudulent invoices and cash payments. In one scheme, Syed — Chief Executive Officer of Jet Way Security and Investigations and Jet Way Aviation Services — Baer, who also works for Jet Way, and an unnamed executive at the air cargo company Alliance Ground International (AGI) allegedly paid a Delta employee $8,000 every quarter in exchange for ensuring continued contracts with Delta. James’ office reported that the three created a false $25,000 invoice to make it appear that there was a legitimate payment from AGI to Jet Way, then split the money three ways. This went on from January 2018 to January 2023, and culminated in a total of $375,000 in fraudulent invoice payments.
In another scheme, Joseph Puzzo, manager of gas canister company American Compressed Gases, allegedly paid two-three dollars per canister sold to a JFK Delta employee in order to ensure continued business for his company. Puzzo would send the payments to a third-party company, which would keep half the money, then send the rest to the Delta employee through rent checks for office space that didn’t exist.
“When businesses bribe their way into lucrative contracts, everyday New Yorkers can suffer the consequences of worse service and higher costs,” said Attorney General James. “These bribery schemes impacted critical shipping services at one of the busiest airports in the nation. These individuals repeatedly broke the law, but today we are shutting down their pay-to-play schemes and holding them accountable.”
