A former employee and contractor of Medtronic's Costa Rica business have been charged with conspiring to defraud the company in a $1 million scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Former site director Elieser Feliciano-Soto and former contract worker José E. Santana-Criado were involved in the building of a manufacturing facility for Medtronic in Costa Rica around 2017, according to the federal indictment. They allegedly organized Innovative Engineering Corp. and Innovative Engineering in Puerto Rico to fraudulently obtain payments from Medtronic-CR for the provision of services that weren't rendered.
Mr. Feliciano-Soto allegedly authorized purchase orders issued by Innovative Engineering to defraud Medtronic. He and Mr. Santana-Criado then transferred their wire fraud proceeds to accounts in Illinois, according to the indictment.
Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.