US grand jury indicts Puerto Rico governor on 5 more charges in campaign finance probe
Published in: Yahoo! Biz News
Source: Associated Press, By Rebecca Banuchi
Wednesday August 20, 2008

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A U.S. federal grand jury handed down a new indictment against Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vilá Tuesday, charging him with 4 counts of wire fraud and 1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with alleged campaign finance violations.

It accused Acevedo and others in his campaign of receiving some $250,000 in illegal funds from a local businessman, whom Acevedo later helped as governor without disclosing the financial relationship. A senior aide and former campaign director were also charged.

The indictment also contends that a media company used by Acevedo's campaign created about $250,000 in fake invoices, stating it had provided services when it had done no work for the businessman or his company. The money was allegedly used to pay off campaign debts.

Acevedo, who is running for re-election in November, was previously indicted in March on 19 other counts including conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws and defraud the Internal Revenue Service, as well as giving false testimony to the FBI.

He faces 60 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

On Tuesday, he repeated previous denials of guilt and blamed the accusations on political persecution.

"Like I have said from the beginning, I have never committed an illegal act," he said in a statement.

His Washington-based attorney, Thomas Green, accused federal authorities of engaging in "heavy-handed, unfair tactics."

Acevedo and a dozen associates are alleged to have illegally raised money to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign debts stemming from his term as Puerto Rico's nonvoting delegate to Congress from 2000 to 2004.

Acevedo is the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges since the island became a semiautonomous U.S. commonwealth in 1952. He is expected to stand trial in February.

The governor is in the middle of a tight race for re-election against Luis Fortuño, Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional delegate and a member of the island's pro-statehood party. Acevedo favors maintaining the island's semiautonomous status.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080820/puerto_rico_governor_charged.html?.v=1

Five more charges against the Governor
By Caribbean Business Online Staff

Acevedo Vilá now accused of electronic fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering

The federal Grand Jury has filed five more criminal charges against Puerto Rico Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, including four counts of electronic fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Apart from the governor, Luisa Inclán Bird and Miguel Nazario were also accused of the same charges. Inclán Bird had previously worked as advisor to Acevedo Vilá, while Nazario worked as finance director of Acevedo Vilá’s political campaign for governor.

According to the first four charges of the indictment, Acevedo Vilá and people close to him solicited and received approximately $250,000 from a businessman only identified as “collaborator 18.” The indictment also alleges that during his term as governor, Acevedo Vilá incurred in acts of an official nature to benefit the economic interests of collaborator 18. The accused also allegedly conspired to make financial transactions with funds received from collaborator 18 in order to hide the money’s true source.

If found guilty, the accused stand to serve up to 20 years in prison and pay fines of up to half a million.

Acevedo Vilá had been already accused of 19 criminal charges related to finances in his last two election campaigns, the first when he ran for resident commissioner in 1999 and 2000, and his campaign for governor in 2003 and 2004. Twelve other persons who had worked in his political campaigns were also accused for a total of 27 counts of electoral fraud, wire fraud and tax crimes.

Springing to his defense
Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá responded to the fresh crop of accusations by maintaining his innocence and insisting the federal charges are politically motivated.

“Like I said from the beginning, I have never committed an illegal act, have not solicited or received any donations in exchange for a government contract and have never allowed the misuse of public funds,” stated the governor.

Meanwhile, Acevedo Vilá’s main defense lawyer, Thomas Green, questioned the timing of the new accusations with general elections just 11 weeks away. “It’s no coincidence that the new accusations arrive a month and a half after we presented a motion to dismiss based on numerous legal defects in the indictment,” Green stated, who also questioned the U.S. Department of Justice’s involvement.

Acevedo Vilá’s campaign director, Miguel Hernández Agosto, accused federal prosecutors of playing politics benefiting the governor’s main political rival, Luis Fortuño, while Acevedo Vilá’s running mate for resident commissioner, Alfredo Salazar, said that federal prosecutors are “coming up with new accusations because the first charges against the governor were not solid.”

Fortuño asks for his resignation
Mere hours after the federal charges were made public on Tuesday, New Progressive Party (NPP) President and gubernatorial candidate Luis Fortuño called for Acevedo Vilá to resign in light of the accusations. “The Puerto Rican people deserve better than this. I hope he understands the damage he is doing to Puerto Rico and if he doesn’t, I hope that leaders of his party understand and ask him to resign immediately,” Fortuño stated at a press conference.

During his expressions, Fortuño denied that the NPP-controlled Legislature is talking about a possible impeachment, although he defended the importance of the House of Representatives' evaluation of the federal case.
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