Attorney General James Announces Takedown of Bribery and Money Laundering Schemes at JFK Airport

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced the indictments of five people for dozens of crimes related to their roles in years-long bribery and money laundering schemes to secure favorable contracts from Delta Airlines (Delta) at JFK Airport in Queens. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (Port Authority) uncovered three different bribery and money laundering schemes that allegedly used fraudulent invoices and cash payments to bribe a high-level Delta employee in order to secure contracts for cargo industry companies they owned. Raymond Kayume, Joseph Puzzo, Irfan Syed, Beau Baer, and a fifth co-conspirator were charged with multiple counts of commercial bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, scheme to defraud, and other crimes.

“When businesses bribe their way into lucrative contracts, everyday New Yorkers can suffer the consequences of worse service and higher costs,” said Attorney General James. “These bribery schemes impacted critical shipping services at one of the busiest airports in the nation. These individuals repeatedly broke the law, but today we are shutting down their pay-to-play schemes and holding them accountable.”

“We’re grateful for our strong partnership with the Attorney General’s Office that helped us uncover these alleged schemes inside JFK’s cargo operations,” said Port Authority Inspector General John Gay. “Blatant bribes, fake invoices, and vacation kickbacks have no place in an environment that depends on honesty and accountability. Our office will continue to pursue anyone who attempts to compromise the safety and integrity of the region’s critical transportation infrastructure.”

“Partnership among law enforcement and our public sector colleagues is vital to safeguarding the integrity of our transportation infrastructure and protecting the well-being and safety of New Yorkers. HSI New York was proud to play a role in these indictments, which demonstrate how imperative it is in working together to uncover and address complex criminal schemes that threaten public trust,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel. “HSI's continued collaboration with law enforcement partners, including the Office of the Attorney General and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, ensures that those who seek to undermine our community’s safety and prosperity are held accountable.”

Indictment 1
The investigation uncovered a years-long bribery and money laundering scheme run by Irfan Syed, Beau Baer, and a third charged co-conspirator. Syed is the Chief Executive Officer of Jet Way Security and Investigations and Jet Way Aviation Services (Jet Way), two companies operating at JFK that provide security for various airlines and their cargo departments. The charged co-conspirator is an executive of Alliance Ground International (AGI), which manages and provides workers for Delta’s cargo department at JFK. Baer is a director at Jet Way who reports directly to Syed.

Syed and the charged co-conspirator agreed to pay the Delta employee approximately $8,000 in cash every quarter in exchange for receiving continued contracts from Delta. To pay the Delta employee’s bribes, Syed and the charged co-conspirator created false invoices for approximately $25,000 each quarter to make it look like there was a legitimate expense paid from AGI to Jet Way. That money was then split three ways between Syed, the Delta employee, and the charged co-conspirator. These fraudulent invoice payments, which occurred from January 2018 through January 2023, totaled approximately $375,000. As an employee of Syed’s, Baer would hand the Delta employee their bribe onsite at JFK. Syed and the charged co-conspirator also provided the Delta employee with quarterly trips to Las Vegas and annual trips to Atlantic City, during which they would pay for the Delta employee’s meals and other expenses.

Syed, Baer, and the co-conspirator are charged with Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree, Conspiracy in the Sixth Degree, Money Laundering in the Second Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and Commercial Bribing in the Second Degree. Syed and the co-conspirator are additionally charged with Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. If convicted, they face a maximum sentence of five to fifteen years in prison. 

Indictment 2
The investigation also uncovered a separate bribery scheme, in which Raymond Kayume laundered bribe payments to the same Delta employee. Another corporate vendor in the cargo industry entered into an agreement with the Delta employee to ensure Delta’s business. To maintain Delta’s business, that vendor agreed to pay five percent of all their Delta earnings to the Delta employee. To facilitate those payments and obscure their true purpose, the vendor would write checks to Kayume’s company, Kennedy Advanced Professional Services, for non-existent work. Kayume would then take that money and provide half of it to the Delta employee, while keeping the other half for himself.

Kayume is charged with Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. The vendor who paid Kayume the money for the bribes has agreed to forfeit one million dollars of proceeds. If convicted, Kayume faces a maximum sentence of one and one-third to four years in prison.

Indictment 3
The investigation uncovered a third bribery scheme centered around Joseph Puzzo, a manager at American Compressed Gases (ACG). ACG provides canisters of compressed gas that power forklifts used to move cargo. To ensure ACG’s business with Delta Airlines’ cargo, Puzzo requested to pay two to three dollars in bribe money per canister of compressed gas sold. To facilitate those payments, Puzzo would pay the bribe money to a third intermediary company for non-existent “consulting fees.” That intermediary company would keep half of that bribe money and then send the rest to the Delta employee by writing rent checks for office space. In reality, there was no office, and the money was merely the Delta employee’s share of the bribe money. In exchange for the bribe payments, ACG maintained its business within Delta’s cargo warehouses at JFK. 

Puzzo is charged with Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree, and Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one and one-third to four years in prison.

Syed, Baer, Kayume, and Puzzo were arraigned today before Queens County Supreme Court Judge John Zoll. The charges in the indictments are merely allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by members of the Port Authority Office of the Inspector General. Special Agents with the New York Field Office of the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations aided in the investigation.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Nicholas Kyriacou and Jimei Hon and former Senior Counsel Russell Satin, under the supervision of Public Integrity Bureau Chief Gerard Murphy, with assistance from Senior Analyst Crystal Bisbano. The audit was undertaken by Principal Auditor Investigator Brenna Magruder and Auditor Investigator Kristina Patterson, under the supervision of Deputy Chief Auditor Sandy Bizzaro. The auditor team is led by Chief Auditor Kristen Fabbri. The Public Integrity Bureau is part of the Division for Criminal Justice. The Division for Criminal Justice is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General José Maldonado and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.