SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Like many small business owners in this struggling U.S. territory, Luis Escribano was having a hard time paying the power bills. So, for at least five years, he did what many others have done: tampered with the electricity meter at his small cafe, illegally cutting his bill by tens of thousands of dollars.
Then the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which is struggling to pay its own bills, decided to make an example of him. He was charged with theft and threatened with jail time if he didn’t pay $40,000 in back bills and fines. The company not only persuaded the court to make restitution a condition of probation for the first time, but also alerted local media that Escribano was due in court last month to publicly shame him.
“They have declared total war,” said Michael Corona, a lawyer who represents Escribano.
While his case is extreme, it reflects a new approach by Puerto Rican public agencies that are desperate for money and no longer able to put up with theft and cheating that went unpunished in the past.
The Puerto Rico government is teetering on the brink of financial collapse, burdened by $72 billion in public debt. Public agencies account for nearly 40 percent of that debt, including the power company, which recently reached a deal to restructure a portion of its $9 billion debt. The highway and transportation authority carries more than $7 billion of that debt while the water and sewer company have more than $5 billion.