US lawmaker Cuellar hit with bribery charges tied to Azerbaijan, Mexican
bank
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 [May 04, 2024]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife
were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 in bribes in two
schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and
an unnamed bank based in Mexico, court papers showed.
The federal indictment, returned by a grand jury in Texas on Tuesday and
unsealed on Friday, said the bribes were laundered through sham
consulting contracts into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, the
Democratic congressman's wife, from December 2014 through at least
November 2021.
In exchange, it says Henry Cuellar sought to use his public position to
influence U.S. foreign policy in Azerbaijan's favor and to pressure U.S.
government officials to help the Mexican bank lobby against anti-money
laundering enforcement policies and payday lending regulations that
threatened its business.
Before the charges were unsealed, Cuellar issued a statement denying the
allegations.
"Both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations," said Cuellar.
One of the most conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives,
Cuellar is seeking an 11th two-year term in the Nov. 5 election. He
represents a Texas district that borders Mexico and includes Laredo and
parts of San Antonio.
The 54-page indictment identifies the bank only as "Foreign Bank-1," a
Mexico City-based institution that conducts payday lending in the U.S.
and is part of a Mexican finance and retail holding company that also
owns a Mexican media company.
That appears to match Grupo Salinas, a sprawling conglomerate controlled
by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas, whose business empire includes
Banco Azteca. The indictment also provides identifying details of a bank
executive who appears to match a recently retired Banco Azteca
executive.
"Right now, we don't have information about this," Grupo Salinas
executive Luciano Pascoe told Reuters by email in response to a request
for comment.
Cuellar will step down as the ranking member of the Homeland Security
Appropriations subcommittee while the case is pending, said a
spokesperson for Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Cuellar's home and campaign office in Laredo were searched by federal
law enforcement in January 2022, when Cuellar served as a co-chair of
the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
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U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) questions Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a Homeland
Security Subcommittee hearing on the DHS budget request on Capitol
Hill in Washington, U.S., April 10, 2024. REUTERS/Michael A.
McCoy/File Photo
In that capacity, he and several other members of Congress signed a
letter urging Congress to provide humanitarian support to assist
people displaced following the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The indictment cites Cuellar's support for providing funding to
Azerbaijan and a pro-Azerbaijan speech he gave on the House floor,
among other actions.
Cuellar said in his statement he had sought legal advice from the
House Ethics Committee and a national law firm.
"We requested a meeting with the Washington DC prosecutors to
explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or to
hear our side," he added.
The Justice Department said Cuellar and his wife made initial
appearances before a federal magistrate judge in Houston on Friday.
They were released on bond.
Each faces 14 counts on charges including conspiracy, bribery,
honest services wire fraud, being a public official acting as an
agent of a foreign principal, and money laundering.
Several of the charges carry a statutory maximum of 20 years in
prison.
Cuellar is not the only member of Congress facing federal charges.
Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is awaiting trial on corruption
charges in New York, while Republican George Santos last year was
expelled from the House while he awaits trial on charges of
violating campaign finance laws.
Both Menendez and Santos deny wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Additional reporting by Patricia
Zengerle, Doina Chiacu, Richard Cowan and David Alire Garcia;
Editing by Scott Malone, Richard Chang and William Mallard)
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