President of PR-based Company Sentenced for Procurement Fraud and Kickbacks

Reinaldo Cruz Taura, president of Puerto Rico-based RCT Mechanical Engineering, was sentenced to eight months in prison and two years of home confinement for providing kickbacks in connection with federal government subcontracts for the federal building and courthouse on St. Croix and on Coast Guard facilities in Puerto Rico, U.S. Attorney Gretchen C.F. Shappert announced Thursday.

According to court documents filed in the case, from June 2011 through June 2015 Taura paid more than $1.2 million in kickbacks to a senior project manager for the prime contractor on the St. Croix and Puerto Rico projects. In addition, Taura falsely inflated the expenses billed under the subcontract in order to cover the costs of those kickbacks.

The case was investigated by the General Services Administration – Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Veterans Affairs – Office of the Inspector General, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Department of Agriculture – Office of the Inspector General, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nathan Brooks and Kyle Payne.