The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday announced corruption charges against a se...
SAN JUAN - The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday announced corruption charges against a senior government official and a contractor who oversaw the rebuilding of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017.
In return, Tribble pressured FEMA and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority to steer work to Ellison’s firm, prosecutors said. PREPA said that Cobra was paid $1.1 billion of a contracted $1.9 billion. The contracts were canceled by the utility in March when it “became aware of possible irregularities,” PREPA said in a statement on Tuesday.Ellison, who left Cobra in June, denies wrongdoing and will plead not guilty, his attorney William Leone said in a telephone interview.
U.S. officials have put tighter spending controls on federal money earmarked for Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts, which have been slow. FEMA, PREPA, and Cobra’s parent company, Mammoth Energy Services Inc, said they were cooperating with the investigation. Prosecutors said they seized $4.7 million from accounts held by Ellison, as well as a sailboat, a truck and construction equipment. Ellison has sued to try to get that property back.
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