The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Jald Jensen, a former regional sales manager for aircraft maintenance company BizJet International Sales and Support Inc., pleaded guilty on Oct. 29, 2026, to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”). Jensen admitted that he participated in a scheme to bribe government officials in Latin America to secure and retain business for BizJet. Jensen, who was indicted in 2012, was extradited from Panama in September 2026. A sentencing date has not been set at this time.
According to his plea agreement, Jensen worked from December 2004 to March 2010 as a regional sales manager for BizJet, a U.S. subsidiary of Lufthansa Technik AG. BizJet provided aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul services, including for aircraft owned and operated by foreign governments, such as the Mexican President, the federal police in Mexico, the Governor of the Mexican State of Sinaloa (“Sinaloa”), and the aviation authority in Panama.
In his plea agreement, Jensen admitted that he conspired with BizJet’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing Peter DuBois, Chief Financial Officer Neal Uhl, and President and Chief Executive Officer Bernd Kowalewski to make payments directly to customers or to third-party agents knowing a portion of that money would go to existing and potential customers, including government customers. More specifically, Jensen admitted that in order to conceal the improper payments, beginning in 2005, the group funneled many of the payments through Avionica International & Associates, Inc. (“Avionica”), a company owned by Jensen, which the DOJ has described as a shell company. Jensen submitted invoices to BizJet on behalf of Avionica, which Uhl, DuBois, and others would cause BizJet to pay, according to the plea agreement. Jensen then withdrew the funds from Avionica’s bank account and either hand-deliver cash or transferred the money directly to employees of customers.
In January 2012, DuBois and Uhl each pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the FCPA for their roles in the scheme; DuBois also pleaded guilty to one count of violating the FCPA. Each received a sentence of probation and eight months of home detention, reflecting their cooperation with DOJ investigators. In March 2012, BizJet resolved the matter with the DOJ by entering into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement, which required the company to pay an $11.8 million criminal penalty. Kowalewski, who was arrested in Amsterdam in March 2014, pleaded guilty in July 2014 to conspiring to violate the FCPA and one substantive violation of the FCPA. He was sentenced to time served in November 2014 and ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.