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6 charged in '11 killing of US bank executive in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Federal authorities say they’ve solved the high-profile killing of a U.S. banking executive slain more than seven years ago in a drive-by shooting on one of Puerto Rico’s busiest highways.

U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez told The Associated Press on Wednesday that suspected drug traffickers targeted Maurice Spagnoletti in the June 2011 shooting because he was investigating improper bank transactions.

Six men have been charged in the case. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had attorneys.

Rodriguez said one of the suspects owned a cleaning company that had received millions of dollars under a maintenance contract with Doral Bank that Spagnoletti had cancelled as part of his investigation. Rodriguez said the company was being used to launder money.

The New Jersey banker previously worked in South Carolina, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

The Associated Press