Former Cruise Ceo Sentenced

Sun., June 14, 1998

From Staff

A former president and chief operating officer of Princess Tours has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to mail and wire fraud charges.

Ray S. Pedersen, 51, of Redmond, pleaded guilty in January to defrauding Princess Cruises, the parent company of Princess Tours. He was accused of authorizing payments to third-party service providers - such as tour operators and law firms - to fund kickbacks.

The services often were of little value to Princess Tours and in some cases were not provided at all.

Pedersen carried out his scheme some time between Jan. 1, 1992, and April 26, 1995, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Chief U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on Friday sentenced Pedersen to 33 months in jail followed by three years’ probation. Pedersen also was ordered to pay $1.5 million to Princess Cruises and Federal Insurance Co.

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