By: Bloomberg
September 2, 2022
- Bancredito founder Julio Herrera was arraigned in San Juan
- Herrera is accused of bribing former Gov. Wanda Vazquez
The Venezuelan financier in the middle of a Puerto Rican bribery scandal that led to the indictment of the island’s former governor has declared himself not guilty to a laundry list of federal corruption charges.
Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, the founder of Bancredito International Bank & Trust Corp., appeared before a judge in San Juan Wednesday. He was subsequently released on a $1 million bond and will await trial at his home in New York.
The government alleges that Herrera — working through former FBI agent Mark Rossini — offered to finance the 2020 election campaign of then-Governor Wanda Vazquez if she would fire the head of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions of Puerto Rico. The office had been investigating Bancredito since 2019.
The government says Vazquez complied and named a new commissioner in May 2020 who was “a former consultant for the international bank owned by Herrera.”
Vazquez and Rossini have also said they are not guilty of the charges.
Herrera is facing seven counts, including federal grand bribery, federal program bribery, conspiracy, honest services fraud and honest services wire fraud. The fraud charges alone each carry a 20-year maximum prison sentence.
Bancredito, founded in 2009 and based in Puerto Rico, is in the process of voluntary liquidation.