Travolta’s Pilots Charged With Embezzling Almost $800,000

Two pilots are charged with embezzling close to $800,000 from actor/pilot John Travolta’s production company. The Marion County (Florida) Sheriff’s Department confirmed to AVweb that Jean Paul Lacruz-Romero is in custody. Local news outlets have reported that Lacruz-Romero is charged with organized fraud, grand theft, and money laundering. The second pilot, identified as Jorden David Coursey, is being sought for similar charges. Both have since been terminated by Constellation Productions, which lists Travolta as President.

Travolta operates a pair of Dassault Falcon business jets as well as an Eclipse jet and other aircraft from his home at the Jumbolair aviation community near Ocala, Florida. An avid pilot, Travolta used to own a Boeing 707 in Qantas livery, which he has since donated to an Australian aviation museum. The Falcons and other aircraft are used for travel associated with Travolta’s business interests, as well as personal transportation.

According to the police reports cited in the news stories, Lacruz-Romero and Coursey used a third-party company, Lux Fuels LLC, to bill Constellation for the aircraft’s fuel and other charges. But that company, which they presented as a discount fuel broker, is licensed under Lacruz-Romero’s wife’s name.

A Constellation employee alerted authorities to suspiciously high fuel prices on invoices presented from Lux Fuels. An audit of charges between October 2021 and July 2023 revealed overcharging in the amount of $785,050, which included “administrative fees” paid to Lux Fuels.

The funds were further filtered through another company, JPL Aviation LLC, which lists Lacruz-Romero as the account administrator. Payments from Lux Fuels to JPL Aviation include money apparently used to purchase a $30,000 Cessna aircraft. According to the police report, Lacruz-Romero received $382,166 “in fraudulent funds” from Lux Fuels and Coursey received $305,231, which “represents approximately half of the funds indicated in the report of findings as fraudulent and appears to be a ‘partner distribution,’” according to the detective’s report.

While Coursey remains at large at press time, the Marion County Sheriff's office confirmed Lacruz-Romero is being held without bond in the Marion County jail and will face a hearing sometime next month. His wife is not facing charges at this time.