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The FBI has just arrested former Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vazquez Garced. According to Department of Justice's press release it is related to "bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign." DoJ also indicted Julio Herrera Velutini: "...from December 2019 through June 2020, then-Governor of Puerto Rico Wanda Vazquez Garced, 62, of San Juan, allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with various individuals, including Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, Frances Diaz, Mark Rossini, and John Blakeman to finance Vazquez Garced’s 2020 gubernatorial election campaign."
This site exposed Herrera Velutini's connection to the interim President of Venezuela Juan Guaido. At that time, infodio.com revealed that Herrera Velutini was donating money to the UK's Conservatives through Britannia Financial Group (£535,604 in total), and hinted that Herrera Velutini's banking operations in Puerto Rico (Bancredito) could be his undoing:
"In addition to the above, Herrera Velutini also controls Bancredito International Bank in Puerto Rico, which might be his undoing. Considering people involved, track record and jurisdictions used, it has all the markings of an international money laundering operation. What makes Herrera Velutini particularly interesting to this site is his connection to the Guaido brothers and, by extension, to Leopoldo Lopez. Sources familiar with his operations have told this site Herrera Velutini's get-in card was provided by Valentina Tintori, Lopez's sister in law."
Herrera Velutini's Bancredito had been the subject of a probe by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico (OCIF) since 2019. OCIF found "...multiple apparent violations of law in areas related to reporting suspicious activity and foreign bank accounts, and due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, in addition to significant deficiencies in internal controls..." OCIF requested details on Bancredito's "de-risking efforts of Venezuelan clients", which put the bank and Herrera Velutini personally in an impossible-to-comply situation.
There is much more to the story of Herrera Velutini beyond the bribery scheme, in Puerto Rico, in the UK, and with Venezuela's opposition. All will be revealed in due course.
