Former Mayor of the municipality of Humacao, Puerto Rico, Reinaldo Vargas-Rodriguez, has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison over his involvement in a bribery scheme in which prosecutors revealed he received cash payments for awarding municipal contracts to two companies.
According to court documents, Reinaldo Vargas-Rodriguez, 49, was the mayor and highest-ranking government official in the municipality of Humacao between 2021 and 2022.
Justice Department said Vargas-Rodriguez was involved in a bribery conspiracy in 2021 when he received and accepted cash payments from two businessmen in exchange for awarding municipal contracts for waste disposal services, asphalt and paving services and debris removal and paying outstanding invoices on the contracts.
Vargas-Rodriguez got no fewer than $27,000 in cash bribes between January 2021 and July 2021 from the two businessmen.
His sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, and Special Agent in Charge Joseph Gonzalez of the FBI San Juan Field Office.
The case was investigated by FBI San Juan Field Office. The DOJ said the case was part of the department’s ongoing efforts to tackle public corruption by municipal officials in Puerto Rico and added that apart from the allegations against Vargas-Rodriguez, the Public Integrity Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico have received convictions against other former public officials and contractors in the District of Puerto Rico for soliciting and taking bribes related to municipal contracts.
SUPPORT NIGERIAN CANADIAN NEWSPAPER CANADA
If you like our work and want to keep enjoying what we offer, kindly support us by donating to the Nigerian Canadian News by clicking here
Share your thoughts in the comments section below
Do you want to share any news or information with us? If yes, contact the publisher at publisher@test1.nascitest.club
