Second Pilot Charged for Fraud against Travolta Company

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Florida has arrested and charged a second man in connection with an alleged aviation fuel pricing scheme to embezzle nearly $800,000 from a company led by actor John Travolta.

Jorden Coursey, a pilot who was employed by Travolta’s Constellation Production business, was arrested on March 29 and released on bond the next day. His arrest followed that of fellow pilot Jean-Paul Lacruz Romero, also formerly employed by Constellation, earlier last month.

They were each charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more, organized fraud of $50,000 or more, and money laundering of $100,000 or more—although the latter charge was dropped in the case of Lacruz Romero. Coursey's arraignment is set for later this month.

The two are co-defendants in a case surrounding an alleged defrauding of Constellation Productions out of about $785,050 from October 2021 to July 2023. A police report alleges that the pilots would pay for fuel and expenses for Constellation through Lux Fuels, a brokerage registered to Lacruz Romero’s wife.

According to the police report, an accounting review of the invoices from Lux and the actual FBOs revealed that the charges from the brokerage were inflated either through an incorrect report of gallons purchased, a change in price per gallon, or both. In addition, Lux Fuels invoices contained administration fees.

Further investigation revealed that some of the funds in the Lux Fuels account were transferred to an account held by JPL Aviation, managed by Lacruz Romero, the police report says. Money was also alleged to have been transferred to the second pilot, Coursey, either directly or from an Air Jorden company account.