Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez arrested on bribery charges
Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday in the U.S. territory on bribery charges, the DOJ said.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez was arrested Thursday in the U.S. territory on bribery charges, according to a statement from the Department of Justice. It marks the first time that a former leader of the island faces federal charges.
A political consultant for the former governor and the president of the international bank also pleaded guilty to involvement in a bribery scheme, the Justice Department added.
Juan Rosado-Reynés, a spokesman for Vázquez, told the AP he did not have immediate comment.
In mid-May, Vázquez’s attorney told reporters that he and his client were preparing for possible charges as the former governor at the time denied any wrongdoing: “I can tell the people of Puerto Rico that I have not committed any crime, that I have not engaged in any illegal or incorrect conduct, as I have always said.”
Vázquez was the second woman to serve as Puerto Rico’s governor and the first former governor to face federal charges. Former Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá was charged with campaign finance violations while in office and was found not guilty in 2009. He had been the first Puerto Rico governor to be charged with a crime in recent history.
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