Two government officials in Puerto Rico, including the mayor of Guaynabo, accused of corruption charges earlier this month betrayed the trust of their constituents, a U.S. Attorney said in a news release.
Guaynabo Mayor Ángel Pérez-Otero was arrested before dawn Dec. 9 by FBI agents and other law enforcement on charges of conspiracy, soliciting a bribe and extortion, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release issued the same day. Radamés Benítez-Cardona, executive assistant to Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Mayor José Luis Cruz Cruz, was indicted on allegations he "enriched himself by accepting bribes and kickbacks," the news release said.
"The constituents of these defendants entrusted them with serving their communities – instead they participated in the alleged illegal schemes and used their positions for personal gain," W. Stephen Muldrow, U.S. Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico, said in the news release. "Public officials who fail to faithfully discharge the duties of their office, and those who conspire with them, will be investigated, prosecuted and punished for their actions."
Muldrow was sworn in as U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico in October 2019 following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate the previous month, according to his bio on the DOJ's website.
Pérez Otero, a member of Puerto Rico's New Progressive Party and who recently admitted his guilt in a sexual harassment and gender violence case, was first elected to be mayor of Guaynabo in 2017 and was re-elected in last year's general elections. He is alleged to have accepted bribes and kickbacks for favorable outcomes in municipal contracts between 2019 and 2021. He allegedly used pressure and influence to award contracts to a yet-named person's company of the unnamed person in exchange for $5,000 in regular cash payments.
Benítez-Cardona, referred to in the news release as "a government official and agent of Trujillo Alto," also is alleged to have accepted bribes and kickback from two as yet unidentified people in exchange for a waste management services municipal contract. Monthly kickbacks that Benítez-Cardona allegedly received amounted to about $17,250 for 23,000 houses, with one individual giving him an up-front payment of approximately $200,000 in exchange for the waste disposal contract with the Municipality of Trujillo Alto."
Both investigations were conducted by the FBI's San Juan Field Office.
