Federal law enforcement agents on Thursday arrested former Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, charging her in a bribery scheme that was allegedly aimed at financing her failed 2020 gubernatorial campaign, reports the Washington Post. While Vázquez Garced was governor in 2019 and 2020, she allegedly took campaign donations from a banker, Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, and a former FBI agent, Mark Rossini, who was consulting for the bank.
Herrera Velutini and Rossini allegedly paid more than $300,000 to consultants who supported Vázquez Garced’s campaign. In exchange for the campaign donations, the governor allegedly said she would appoint a new commissioner to the regulatory agency of Herrera Velutini’s choosing. Vázquez Garced, Herrera Velutini and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, federal programs bribery and wire fraud. If convicted on all counts, they face a maximum of 20 years in prison.