DOJ charges Acevedo Vilá and 12 associates with campaign offenses (27 counts)

On March 27, 2008, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in San Juan had charged Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá and 12 associates in a 27-count indictment unsealed that day (returned March 24). This note sticks to the official DOJ release: indictment ≠ conviction. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven otherwise in due process.

According to the indictment, the defendants faced charges of conspiracy, false statements, wire fraud, federal program fraud and tax offenses tied to financing Acevedo Vilá’s campaigns for Resident Commissioner (1999–2000 and 2001–2002) and the 2004 governorship. DOJ alleges that Puerto Rico businessmen made illegal, unreported contributions to pay large undisclosed debts from those campaigns, mainly to a public-relations and media firm; the illegal acts allegedly continued in 2003.

The indictment also alleges a scheme to defraud Puerto Rico’s Department of Hacienda of up to $7 million in public funds from the voluntary financing of the 2004 gubernatorial campaign — with a spending cap and full reporting in exchange for that contribution. It describes the use of “collaborators,” false invoices (e.g., a charge to José González Freyre on an allegedly fictitious $50,000 invoice) and conduit contributions (in another’s name). Among the 13 defendants are Luisa Inclán Bird, Miguel Nazario Franco, Ricardo Colón Padilla and others from Puerto Rico, Washington and the Philadelphia area.

The FBI and IRS investigated with assistance from the Office of the Comptroller. DOJ stressed that an indictment is a formal accusation, not proof. This note invents no amounts or names outside release 08-crm-243. Cousin: 647 (2nd indictment Aug 2008). Primary: justice.gov archives OPA. Topic politics.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2008/March/08_crm_243.html