David Rivera, a Former Miami Republican congressman, was officially taken into custody regarding his connections to a currently ongoing criminal investigation which possibly includes the outright failure the register as a foreign agent within the U.S. for his consulting with the socialist government-run oil company of Venezuela.
Having previously served a term in office for the period of 2011-2013, Rivera has been allegedly the focus of an investigation after signing a massive $50 million consulting contract from a U.S. affiliate of the socialist government-run oil company of Venezuela under the control of President Nicolas Maduro.
One spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Miami, Marlene Rodriguez, explained to The Associated Press that officials took Rivera into custody on Monday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Despite the announcement, Rodriguez could not speak about the actual charges against Rivera because of a sealed indictment by a Miami grand jury this past month, which also included a series of other defendants.
The 57-year-old Rivera made an appearance in an Atlanta federal court in the wake of his arrest but quickly bailed out of confinement later that same afternoon, as explained by the U.S. Marshal’s service and reported by local media outlets.
As the attorney for Rivera, Jeffrey Feldman declined to make comment to The Associated Press, tacking on via text message that he had “not seen the indictment.”
One Delaware-based affiliate of Venezeluan-owned oil company Citgo, PDV USA, slammed a lawsuit against Rivera’s Interamerican Consulting company back in 2020 with the allegation that the former congressman failed to hold up his end of a contract that he had signed three years prior to the lawsuit, which was reportedly said to improve the overall image of the from Venezuela within the United States.
The U.S. affiliate for Venezuela reportedly slammed accusations at Rivera for doing very little work after the businesses took in $20 million from a subsidiary.
“The written record is bereft of any evidence that Interamerican performed any of the contracted services,” PDV USA argues in the new filings, as reported by The Associated Press. “There is not a single email, a single PowerPoint presentation, a single outline, a single memorandum, a single calendar entry, or anything else suggesting that Interamerican ever performed any of the services.”
As reported by The Miami Herald, court documents highlight that Rivera allegedly took strides to divert well over $13 million of those funds to a set of three subcontractors located in Miami who supposedly gave “international strategic consulting services” to the Venezuelan firm.
One such subcontractor allegedly included Hugo Perera, a Miami real estate developer that authorities convicted in one of the largest drug-trafficking cases in South Florida.
