Treasury Dept. employee pleads guilty to accepting bribes to erase tax debts
By THE STAR STAFF
A Treasury Department employee pleaded guilty to participating in a bribery scheme in which he received payments to eliminate taxes owed by individuals and businesses -- a case that caused an estimated $6.7 million loss to the public treasury, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported on Wednesday.
According to the plea agreement, Alexander Ortiz Robles admitted to using his privileged access to Treasury systems to submit false information in exchange for bribes, thereby erasing tax debts, evading taxes and misappropriating funds.
Ortiz Robles received payments of $15,500 in July 2022, $20,000 in December 2023, $60,000 in November 2024, and $6,000 in April 2025, according to federal authorities.
Between June 2020 and October 2025, the defendant worked at the Treasury Department with physical and electronic access to tax returns and documents related to tax billing and collection. His privileges within the PRITAS and SURI systems allowed him to access, review and modify taxpayer information, create credits, and alter data related to income tax, employee withholding and sales tax.
As part of the scheme, third parties who charged clients fees to illegally reduce their tax liabilities funneled bribe payments to the employee. Authorities estimated the loss attributed to this conspiracy at some $6,772,578.
U.S. District Judge Gina Méndez Miró scheduled the sentencing for Ortiz Robles for Jan. 15, 2027. The employee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
The case brings the total number of island Treasury Department employees who have pleaded guilty to bribery or fraud schemes in the last three months to three. When including the facilitators, individuals, and corporations prosecuted in related cases, the losses in tax revenue exceed $14 million, according to federal prosecutors.
In another case filed in October 2025, several individuals and companies pleaded guilty to a scheme that caused losses exceeding $3.5 million. Among them is Treasury Department employee Harry Muriel Falero, who pleaded guilty on July 20 and faces sentencing on Oct. 9 for losses totaling $665,639.74.
Several other individuals also pleaded guilty, along with several corporations linked to the scheme. Sentencing hearings are scheduled between October and December.
Separately, Edwin Gómez Villegas and Brisas BBQ pleaded guilty on Sept. 2 regarding a similar scheme that resulted in some $23,904 in tax losses. Both are set to be sentenced on Dec. 3.
Authorities had previously announced the guilty plea of Treasury Department employee Luis Jiménez Guzmán, who admitted on July 2 to his involvement in a separate bribery scheme that caused losses of some $5 million.
The FBI is handling the investigations, and Prosecutor Marie Christine Amy of the Financial Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico is in charge of prosecuting the cases.
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