USA: a parliamentarian and his wife were charged with accepting bribes from “foreign persons”

Lobbying, of course, was invented in the USA, but corruption? Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda were indicted Friday on charges of conspiracy and accepting bribes from foreign entities. According to the Justice Department, the Cuellars received money from December 2014 until at least November 2021 from an oil and gas company owned by the Azerbaijani government, as well as from a Mexican bank. The amount of corruption is $600,000 (€557,000).

According to a federal indictment returned Tuesday by a grand jury in Texas and unsealed Friday, the Texas official promoted Azerbaijan’s foreign policy and influenced “high-ranking” U.S. officials on behalf of the Bank of Mexico. in exchange for this fee, laundered through false consulting contracts signed with shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar. She “performed little or no legitimate work under the consultants’ contracts,” serving to lend legitimacy to the amounts her husband received, prosecutors charge.

Elected in the district bordering Mexico since 2005.

Cuellar reportedly influenced a number of legislative measures relating to Azerbaijan’s conflict with neighboring Armenia, mired in endless conflict, incorporating language favored by Azerbaijan into legislation and parliamentary reports governing certain security programs and economic assistance, along with Azerbaijani representatives who stepped up lobbying . efforts with the federal government, including Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov.

As for the Bank of Mexico, according to the indictment, Cuellar allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for influencing federal financial regulation for the benefit of the bank and its subsidiaries. The 54-page indictment anonymizes the bank as “Foreign Bank 1” and describes it as being based in Mexico City, making payday loans in the United States and also owning a Mexican media company. According to Reuters, that description appears to fit Grupo Salinas, the sprawling conglomerate controlled by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas, the world’s 170th-richest man, who was recently accused by Mexican authorities of no longer paying taxes. His business empire includes Banco Azteca and TV Azteca. The indictment also details the identity of a bank executive who appears to match a recently retired Banco Azteca executive.

Henry Cuellar is one of the most conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives, an anti-abortion activist who has voted against universal health care and in favor of everyone’s right to bear arms. Elected since 2005, he is seeking his 11th two-year term in November in the Texas district that borders Mexico and includes Laredo and parts of San Antonio. Each time he is re-elected with a higher score than the previous time.

The Cuellars were arraigned Friday before a Houston magistrate judge. They each face lengthy prison sentences spanning decades, with sanctions potentially accumulating on the 14 charges they face, including corruption, conspiracy, money laundering and concealment of money laundering. Earlier on Friday, Cuellar maintained his innocence. They declared their innocence. “I want to make it clear that my wife and I are innocent of these charges,” Cuellar said in a statement. “Everything I did in Congress was to serve the people of South Texas. “They were released on bail.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Cuellar resigned from the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee during the investigation but that he is entitled to “the presumption of innocence throughout the trial.”