OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A former governor of Puerto Rico is in hot water with the federal government.
Wanda Vázquez, who lost her bid for a second term as the island’s governor in 2020, was arrested Thursday morning on allegations of corruption, according to multiple media outlets. A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the arrest to Bloomberg News.
According to a Justice Department press release, Vazquez faces allegations of bribery related to her failed 2020 campaign.
“The alleged bribery scheme rose to the highest levels of the Puerto Rican government, threatening public trust in our electoral processes and institutions of governance,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Department of Justice is committed to holding accountable those who wrongly believe there is one rule of law for the powerful and another for the powerless. No one is above the rule of law.”
The DOJ said that from December 2019 through June 2020, Vazquez “allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with various individuals, including Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, Frances Diaz, Mark Rossini, and John Blakeman to finance” her 2020 campaign.
The criminal actions of the defendants in this case strike a blow to the heart of our democracy and further erode the confidence of our citizens in their institutions of governance,” said U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico. “Our resolve to bring to justice those entrusted by the public to serve with integrity and who violate that trust remains steadfast.
“Equally steadfast is our resolve to prosecute those who seek to use their wealth and power to enrich themselves at the expense of honest government. I commend the dedication and hard work of the law enforcement personnel and prosecutors in this case, as well as those individuals willing to come forward and cooperate,” Muldrow added.
According to the DOJ, one of those arrested was a former FBI agent:
Herrera Velutini, 50, a dual Venezuelan-Italian citizen residing in London, United Kingdom, owned an international bank operating in San Juan. Diaz, 50, of Puerto Rico was the CEO and President of the international bank owned by Herrera Velutini. Rossini, 60, of Madrid, Spain was a former FBI Special Agent who provided consulting services to Herrera Velutini. Blakeman, 53, of Puerto Rico, is a political consultant who worked on Vazquez Garced’s 2020 campaign.
“Public corruption manifests in many different ways,” said Special Agent in Charge Joseph González of the FBI San Juan Field Office. “Those who engage in this illegal conduct often believe they are above the law or fool themselves into believing this is a victimless crime and thus are not doing anything wrong.
“Our message is and has been clear. Public corruption erodes the people’s trust in our institutions and fuels civil unrest. As a top priority for the FBI, wherever allegations of public corruption arise, we will investigate. No one is above the law and the victim of this crime, the People, deserve better,” González said.
Per the indictment, “beginning in 2019, Herrera Velutini’s bank was the subject of an examination by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF), a regulatory agency that oversees financial institutions operating in Puerto Rico. Through intermediaries, Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly promised to provide funding to support Vazquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign in exchange for Vazquez Garced terminating the Commissioner of OCIF and appointing a new Commissioner of Herrera Velutini’s choosing,” the DOJ statement noted.
It adds:
The indictment alleges that Vazquez Garced accepted the offer of a bribe and, in February 2020, took official action to demand the resignation of OCIF Commissioner A and, in May 2020, to appoint OCIF Commissioner B – a former consultant for the international bank owned by Herrera Velutini – who had been personally selected by Herrera Velutini. In return, Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly paid more than $300,000 to political consultants in support of Vazquez Garced’s campaign.
The indictment further alleges that following Vazquez Garced’s primary election loss in August 2020, Herrera Velutini sought to bribe her successor, Public Official A, by offering funding in support of Public Official A’s campaign in exchange for Public Official A ending OCIF’s audit of Herrera Velutini’s bank on terms favorable to Herrera Velutini. According to the indictment, between April 2021 and August 2021, Herrera Velutini allegedly used intermediaries to convey his offer of a bribe to a witness who held himself out as a representative of Public Official A, but who was in fact acting at the direction of the FBI.
All three have been charged with conspiracy, federal programs bribery, and honest services wire fraud, the DOJ said.
