SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – On September 8, 2026, Alexander Ortiz-Robles, a Puerto Rico Department of Treasury (Departamento de Hacienda or “PRDT”) employee was charged via information and pleaded guilty to participating in a bribery conspiracy involving the loss of approximately $6,772,578 in Puerto Rico tax revenue, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. Ortiz-Robles is scheduled to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Gina R. Méndez-Miró on January 15, 2027. This represents the third PRDT employee to plead guilty within the last three months to a bribery or fraud scheme. Along with numerous other “gestors”, individuals, and corporate defendants that also pleaded guilty, the total loss of Puerto Rico tax revenue related to these schemes exceeds $14 million.
According to the plea agreement in the case of Alexander Ortiz-Robles, he admitted to receiving bribe payments to eliminate Puerto Rico taxes owed by various individuals and businesses. From June 2020 through October 2025, Alexander Ortiz-Robles was an employee and agent of the PRDT with duties that included physically and electronically accessing and reviewing tax returns and documents related to invoicing and collection of owed taxes. The defendant had privileged access to the PRDT’s online platforms, the Puerto Rico Integrated Tax Administration System (PRITAS) and the Internal Revenue Unified System (GenTax/SURI) and was experienced and able to access, monitor, and modify taxpayer information, including creating taxpayer credits, modifying income tax, employee retention tax and sales tax information.
As part of the conspiracy, Ortiz-Robles corruptly accepted bribe payments and other benefits, in exchange for submitting false information to the PRDT. The false information was submitted to the PRDT for the elimination of taxes owed, evasion of taxes, and theft of funds. These bribe payments received by Ortiz-Robles included $15,500 in July 2022, $20,000 in December 2023, $60,000 in November 2024, and $6,000 in April 2025.
These illicit bribe payments were paid through third parties, who were in business to charge customers to illegally reduce their taxes owed. The conspiracy resulted in a total approximate loss to the PRDT of $6,772,578.
A separate but similar bribery and fraud scheme, Criminal No. 25-434(PAD), involving employees of the PRDT was indicted in October 2025. The following defendants in that case recently pleaded guilty and are pending sentencing before the U.S. District Court Judge Pedro A. Delgado. That case involves a total loss of over $3.5 million (with some individuals jointly responsible for losses with corresponding companies).
In another separate case, Criminal No. 26-359 (MAJ), Edwin Gómez-Villegas and Brisas BBQ, Inc. pleaded guilty on September 2, 2026, to participating in a similar fraud scheme to defraud PRDT of approximately $23,904 in Puerto Rico tax revenue. Gómez-Villegas and Brisas BBQ, Inc. are scheduled to be sentenced on December 3, 2026, by U.S. District Judge María Antongiorgi-Jordán.
Acting U.S. Attorney Héctor Ramírez-Carbó of the District of Puerto Rico; and Carlos R. Goris, Special Agent in Charge of FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating these matters. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marie Christine Amy from the District of Puerto Rico’s Financial Fraud & Public Corruption Section is prosecuting these cases.
This is part of an ongoing effort to combat public corruption and fraud committed by Puerto Rico Department of Treasury employees. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico previously announced the indictment of the initial twenty-six individuals and corporations in October 2025, the July 2, 2026 guilty plea of Luis A. Jiménez-Guzmán, an Hacienda employee who admitted to participating in a similar bribery conspiracy involving the loss of approximately $5,000,000, and the July 20, 2026 guilty plea of Harry E. Muriel-Falero.
