Jan 15, 2026
- Net worth
- Unknown
- Crimes
- bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy
- Convicted of
- Conspiracy; federal program bribery; honest services wire fraud
- Original sentence
- N/A
- Time served
- N/A
U.S. Department of the Interior / Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Background
Wanda Vázquez Garced served as the Governor of Puerto Rico from 2019 to 2021. She previously served as the island's Secretary of Justice.
The Case
In August 2022, Vázquez Garced was arrested on federal bribery charges related to her 2020 gubernatorial campaign. Prosecutors alleged that between December 2019 and June 2020, she entered into a bribery scheme with Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan-Italian banker who owned Bancrédito International Bank, and Mark Rossini, a former FBI agent acting as a consultant for Herrera Velutini. According to the indictment, Herrera Velutini and Rossini promised to provide more than $300,000 in campaign financing to Vázquez Garced in exchange for her removing the commissioner of Puerto Rico's Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) and replacing him with a hand-picked successor who would be more favorable to Herrera Velutini's bank. Vázquez Garced allegedly carried out the deal by demanding the commissioner's resignation and appointing a former consultant for Herrera Velutini's bank as the new head of the regulatory body.
The Pardon
On January 15, 2026, President Trump granted Vázquez Garced a full pardon. An amended pardon was issued on January 20, 2026.