Mike King, Special Correspondent | Dec 02, 2011 1:25PM EST
A former Peruvian airline executive has pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix surcharges on cargo shipments from the United States and Latin America following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The U.S. Department of Justice said George Gonzalez, former chief commercial officer of Peruvian air cargo carrier Cielos Airlines, was involved in the conspiracy with other airline executives to fix fuel surcharges on cargo shipped from the U.S. to South and Central America from September 2005 until at least November 2005.
Gonzalez and three other former airlines were originally charged in Miami in 2010. Guillermo Cabeza and Luis Juan Soto, former presidents of Miami-based air cargo carriers Arrow Air and South Winds Cargo, respectively, pleaded guilty in September and are, like Gonzalez, awaiting sentencing.
All three have agreed to cooperate with the department in its investigation and to pay a criminal fine.
-- Contact Mike King at michael@borderline.eu.com