In August, the US Department of Justice charged Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan banker, with conspiracy, federal bribery schemes and outright fraud, alleging that he provided illegal campaign donations to then-Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. of the 2020 US gubernatorial election. Earlier this month, Herrera Velutini pleaded not guilty to the charges. Vázquez Garced was arrested by the FBI last month and charged with bribery while in office. Mark Fullbrook, Downing Street’s chief of staff, who previously worked as head of international projects for the C|T Group, a political lobbying firm, said in a statement that he was “fully, completely and voluntarily working with the US authorities ” as a “witness” in the case. The US Justice Department’s indictment alleges that Herrera Velutini and an adviser allegedly paid more than $300,000 to political consultants to support Vázquez Garçed’s campaign, and in exchange the former governor demanded the resignation of the then-financial regulator commissioner of the area. The Justice Department’s indictment alleges that Herrera Velutini wanted Vázquez Garced to help quash an investigation against Puerto Rico-based lender Bancredito. “The criminal actions of the defendants in this case strike at the heart of our democracy and further erode our citizens’ trust in their institutions of government,” U.S. Attorney W Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico said in the indictment. According to the Sunday Times, which first revealed Fullbrook’s cooperation with the FBI, Herrera Velutini used C|T Group to facilitate the payments while Fullbrook worked for the company as head of international projects her. A spokesman for Fullbrook said the chief of staff was “bound and compliant with all laws and regulations in any jurisdiction”. “Indeed, Mark Fullbrook is a witness in this matter and has fully, completely and voluntarily cooperated with the US authorities in this matter, as he always would in any circumstance in which the authorities request his assistance,” they added. “The work was undertaken only by Mr. Herrera and only to conduct an opinion survey for him and no one else. Mr. Fullbrook never did any work for the governor or her campaign, nor did he present any investigative findings. There has been no engagement since.” Before joining No 10, Fullbrook led the successful Truss leadership campaign and has worked on other Conservative political campaigns, including former prime minister Boris Johnson’s 2019 push for Number 10 and Zac Goldsmith’s failed mayoral bid 2016 London election. In recent years, Herrera Velutini has donated more than half a million pounds to the Tories through Britannia Financial, the London-based financial services group. The group has not been charged with wrongdoing. The FBI did not comment and C|T Group declined to comment. Additional reporting by Aime Williams in Washington
