David Rivera, a Republican who served in Congress from 2011 to 2013, was arrested today at the Atlanta airport, said Marlene Rodríguez, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Miami.
Rivera was indicted by a Miami Grand Jury last month, but that document remains sealed. Pressure has been mounting on Rivera for more than two years after news broke that he was awarded the massive contract by a US affiliate of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company.
Rivera’s Interamerican Consulting was sued in 2020 by a Delaware-based Venezuelan-owned Citgo affiliate, alleging that the former congressman did not perform any work as part of the contract he signed in 2017 for three months of “strategic consulting” aimed at building bridges, among other activities
Rivera, 57, has maintained his innocence and countersued PDV USA alleging breach of contract and failure to pay the $30 million he says he is still owed.
The Marshals Service announced that Rivera was released from jail Monday afternoon after his first appearance in federal court in Atlanta.
Although his contract was with a US entity, any work he did on behalf of Venezuelan business interests would have required him to register as a foreign lobbyist, which he did not do.
Records that emerged as part of the ongoing lawsuit show that Rivera’s consulting work was closely coordinated with Venezuelan Raúl Gorrín, a sanctioned media mogul charged in the United States for money laundering.
According to reports, the evidence presented shows Rivera and Gorrín discussing the purchase of “concert tickets,” a possible code word for bribery, from anonymous officials and attempting to coordinate a meeting between the Venezuelan foreign minister and executives from the American oil company Exxon.
News under construction….
