According to the Financial Times, Herrera Velutini gave thousands of dollars to Boris Johnson’s party

By 2019, he began pulling strings to financially support the former governor’s political ambitions in Puerto Rico. Wanda Vasquez Garstu In order to bend Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF), a banker indicted by a federal grand jury in the United Kingdom. Julio M. Herrera Velutini He became a big donor to the former prime minister Boris Johnson and the British Conservative Party, according to The Financial Times.

Since Johnson arrived at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister’s home in the United Kingdom, in 2019, Herrera Velutini has donated half a million pounds, or about $600,000, according to a fund release. About $120,000 was contributed days before the general election.

Herrera Velutini’s donations to the party, known in English as “the Tories”, were channeled through Britannia Financial Group, which provides wealth or wealth management services and securities brokerage.

Herrera Velutini has Italian citizenship

new day An examination of UK corporate records confirmed that Herrera Velutini founded the group in 2016 under the name Helvetica Financial Group. Two years later, the Venezuelan-born banker-owned company changed its name to Britannia Financial.

Although Herrera Velutini was born in Venezuela in December 1971 and had his main residence in London for about six years, Britannia’s corporate records list the man as an economist by profession and an Italian citizen.

On May 11, Herrera Vellutini left his position as a director of Britannia Finance, a group file where other relatives of Herrera Vellutini are also directors. Among these, Julio Cesar and Jose Francisco Herrera.

The banker’s departure from Britannia, in Puerto Rico, includes Vasquez Corset and former federal agent Mark D. Along with Rossini, he planned John Blakeman and Francis M. This is consistent with the alleged conspiracy that Tias controlled the regulatory processes with Phos. OCIF.

In short, a federal grand jury charged that the defendants entered into a bribery scheme with the assistance of an investor residing in Puerto Rico and members of the Vasquez Corset group during the occupation of La Fortaleza. In this maneuver, the banker would pay for the services of the former governor’s political adviser, in exchange for the person recommended by Herrera Velutini to be appointed head of OCIF with the aim of changing the regulations governing international banking institutions. (EBI) in Puerto Rico. After all, Herrera Velutini sought to exempt Pancredito International Bank & Trust, the company he founded in 2009, from corrective measures required by OCIF to correct several operational deficiencies and prevent the disclosure of transactions suspected of money laundering. For federal officials.

Last Thursday, the same day the US Department of Justice issued the indictment, Herrera Velutini resigned to the Chairmanship of Directors of Pancredito.

On that day, the Public Ministry arrested Vázquez Gard, while it was indicated that Herrera Velutini, who lives in London, and Rossini, who lives in Spain, will begin extradition procedures.

Sponsor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee

According to the Financial Times, Britannia Financial was among the sponsors of the concert held in England to mark the 70th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s accession to the British throne.

The allegations against Herrera Velutini have added pressure to the British Conservative Party, which is in the primary process of determining who will be Johnson’s successor and whose fundraising strategies are in the hands of Ben Elliott, the financial release details.

Johnson, a key figure in promoting the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, or so-called Brexit, resigned on July 7. Various controversies And in particular, for the so-called “Particate,” a scandal in which Johnson was accused of instigating numerous meetings and parties at Government House, restrictive measures were used to prevent popular progress. Covid-19 in that country.

According to the publication, William Benjamin (Ben) Elliott, co-chairman and collector of the British Conservative Party, brought donations to the community from his clients at Hawthorne Advisors, a public relations and consulting firm he co-founded. Eliot.

Elliott’s clients at Hawthorne include Britannia Financial Group or Herrera Velutini’s firm, as judged by several press releases. and reviewed by El Nuevo Día.

Herrera Velutini has invested at least $500,000 in local politics

According to the indictment released last Thursday, Herrera Velutini, who attended the wedding of “Individual C” on Jan. 4, 2020, promised John Blakeman, then a political aide of the former governor, about $2 in a text message. million for his political campaign if he accepts his claims regarding OCIF.

As part of this financial support, Herrera Velutini will pay for the services of a consulting firm in the United Kingdom. Herrera Velutini and accused former federal agent Mark D. Rossini and the company’s executives met with “Individual C”, Vasquez Corset and others on February 28, 2020 at a hotel in the county.

Part of the indictment cited text messages that indicated the services cost the banker about $500,000. But other texts Rossini sent to executives at the British consultancy indicated that hiring the consultancy required an initial fee of around 250,000 pounds sterling (£), or around $300,000. Then, starting in March, monthly payments of around £200,000 ($240,000) will be made, or until the general election in November 2020.

Herrera Velutini allegedly made the first payment directly to the consultant, while other payments were channeled through an unnamed political action group or Super Pac.

The indictment specifically alleges that Herrera Velutini and Rossini made two payments as part of a conspiracy to support Vasquez Corset’s campaign: $315,000 to a British consulting firm and another $40,000.

Judging by the charge sheet, If Vázquez Garced had won the primary and the British firm had continued to advise the former governor until the general election, Herrera Velutini would have invested about $1.9 million or more in exchange for helping to topple Puerto Rico’s state financial controller.

In 2021, when Vázquez Corset did not win the political race, Herrera Velutini donated another $50,000 to a super fund supporting Governor Pedro Pierluisi and was used by authorities as a decoy to reaffirm the banker’s conspiracy.

In other words, according to the federal indictment, specifically through the alleged conspiracy, Herrera Velutini invested at least $400,000, either directly or through a third party.

Besides that investment, El Nuevo Día reviewed Herrera before Velutini He started donating to politicians In Puerto Rico since 2016, a year after OCIF began detecting operational deficiencies at Bancrédito.

Between 2016 and 2021, Pancredito Holding, EBI’s parent company and owned by Herrera Velutini, invested another $125,000 in support of People’s Democratic Party and New Progressive Party gubernatorial candidates, according to data from the Federal Election Commission. .