Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced has been indicted on federal bribery charges, the Department of Justice said in a news release.
According to the indictment, then-Gov. Vázquez Garced, of San Juan, allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme from December 2019 to June 2020 with several people, including Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, Frances Daz, Mark Rossini and John Blakeman, to fund Vázquez Garced's 2020 gubernatorial election campaign, the news release said.
“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," Stephen Muldrow, U.S. attorney for Puerto Rico, said in a statement. "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.”
Joseph González, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's San Juan Field Office, said in a statement that prosecuting public corruption is a priority for the bureau.
“Public corruption manifests in many different ways," González said. "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.”
