The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) inquired about the use of campaign funds from former Governor Ricardo Rosselló from when he left La Fortaleza to the present.
News sources reported that FBI agents – on multiple occasions – have requested information from the Office of the Electoral Comptroller (OCE) about the use of these funds.
According to the sources, the agents have inquired about the payment with public funds of vehicles that the Rosselló committee rented through a contract to a company during the campaign, and which were then used by the ex-president in La Fortaleza, without mediating hiring for it.
As it is a local matter, the jurisdiction of the federal authorities in this case is unknown at this time.
Meanwhile, the sources consulted indicate that the feds also inquire about expense bills from the Rosselló campaign committee, which may have been inflated.
This newspaper requested a reaction to the OCE, but declined to make expressions.
Meanwhile, the FBI press spokeswoman, Limary Cruz Rubio, said she neither confirmed nor denied the existence of this inquiry.
The electoral controller acts
Yesterday afternoon, the OCE determined that the ex-governor Rosselló’s campaign will have 15 days to return to the government of Puerto Rico the sum of $ 507,769.35 for services acquired with public funds for the rental of several buses.
The determination – dated yesterday – occurred after it became known that, by assuming governorship in January 2017, the Rosselló administration rented several vehicles of its political campaign that were financed with public funds, and not with campaign money from the exmandatario.
The order of the OCE provides that the committee must “restore the government of Puerto Rico, through a manager’s check, money order or postcard, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, the amounts paid to the company Allied Car & Truck Rental by concept of lease of motor vehicles amounting to $ 229,063.30. In addition, consign in the OCE a manager’s check, money order or postal order in the name of Allied Car & Truck Rental for the amount of $ 278,706.05 ”.
“With both payments, all the services billed amounting to $ 507,769.35 are covered,” the document reads.
The Comptroller of Puerto Rico, Yesmín Valdivieso, said earlier that he does not rule out making a referral to the Department of Justice related to the audit that was carried out to the Office of the Governor, in which the Rosselló administration allegedly concealed bill payment data with public funds for the rental of these vehicles as part of the campaign.
“I don’t know if this was on purpose or who it was, because that’s a problem we sometimes have. We can find a fraud, but not decipher exactly who hid it or committed it. But definitely, that public funds were paid in vehicles that did not have contracts, that is already a signaling and is a requirement for the return of funds, ”Valdivieso said in a radio interview (NotiUno 630).
In detail the returns
The electoral controller also determined that the Rosselló committee has to return to the donors the excess contributions, the amount of which amounts to $ 58,900.
In addition, must return $ 5,000 to legal entities identified by the OCE. It also has to issue $ 296,600 to the Treasury for donations collected and not spent during the period in which it was projected as a candidate for governance, between March 3 and July 21.
Likewise, you have to reserve a $ 150,000 item to ensure the “effective completion of the donation process and report amendments.”
“After December 30, 2019, if you do not aspire to a candidate for the 2020 election event, the unused amount of the remainder must be sent to the Secretary of the Treasury,” says the determination.
In the three-page document, the OCE specified that it will continue to evaluate the income and expense reports presented, as well as supporting documents, including, but not limited to, bank statements, deposited checks, contracts, receipts and invoices.
The committee may file an appeal for judicial review with the Court of Appeals within 30 days, if it does not agree with the determination.
The ex-president keeps over $ 800,000 in his campaign account, money that was raised between March 3 – the date he announced his aspiration to re-election in 2020 – and July 21, when he said he would not aspire to re-election.
Since January 2017, Rosselló raised about $ 2.5 million. When the OCE began evaluating the money in the coffers of the former chief executive, the sum amounted to $ 1.6 million.
