Julio Herrera Velutini
Date
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New York
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The Government has denied any requests for disclosing information concerning its relationship with OCIF, arguing that OCIF was separate from the investigation team and that its examination of the Bank and Mr. Herrera for alleged crimes was disconnected from the Government’s investigation and legal action against the same entities for supposed corruption. This is despite the fact that OCIF appears to have acted as a de facto arm of the Government, spearheading the investigation, blocking the defendant as directed by the Government, gathering evidence, sharing resources, and even acting as informants and secretly recording confidential conversations to collect further evidence for the investigation. The Government's heavy reliance on OCIF officials as informants contradicts its attempts to distance itself from the agency.
Given the above evidence, it is untenable for the Government to claim that the investigation of Mr. Herrera and BIBTC, in which OCIF and its employees acted as agents of the Government, was a different investigation from the one that led to the current charges against Mr. Herrera. The current charges arose from the joint FBI-OCIF investigation of Mr. Herrera and BIBTC, which was ongoing during the period covered by the charges.
The Government is accused of presenting charges against Mr. Herrera after an extensive, seven-year-long investigation involving multiple agencies and informants worldwide, all in pursuit of a crime that, according to the defense, does not exist. Some individuals who were part of alleged bribery schemes were informants at the time of the investigation.
However, this information was not shared with courts reviewing search warrants seeking evidence related to the alleged schemes or the grand jury reviewing the Indictment. Some witnesses entered into cooperation agreements and other leniency arrangements with the Government in exchange for their testimony before the Grand Jury. Yet, the Government has not disclosed these agreements or the extent of their respective misconduct to the Grand Jury.
The Government has relied heavily on four key witnesses: Frances Diaz, John Blakeman, Michael Dane Waters, and Joseph Fuentes. Each of these individuals has significant credibility issues, including previous criminal behavior, conflicts of interest, or a history of providing misleading statements. Yet, this information was not disclosed to the grand jury.
The Government has relied heavily on four key witnesses: Frances Diaz, John Blakeman, Michael Dane Waters, and Joseph Fuentes. Each of these individuals has significant credibility issues, including previous criminal behavior, conflicts of interest, or a history of providing misleading statements. Yet, this information was not disclosed to the grand jury.
Accusations of Government Misconduct by Manipulating OCIF for Criminal Investigation
From the beginning of the investigation into Mr. Herrera and the associated bank, the government is accused of serious misconduct. Allegedly, they manipulated the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) to function as a "stalking horse," a covert method to gather evidence for a criminal investigation, which would otherwise be out of their reach.
According to the detailed account submitted by Julio Herrera Velutini’s defence team, the FBI began interfering with OCIF's examination of the bank late in 2015, gradually increasing its control over the regulatory investigation. The FBI reportedly enlisted almost all OCIF officials overseeing the bank's audit, as well as three OCIF commissioners, as informants.
The bank's compliance with OCIF's regulatory guidelines, as acknowledged by OCIF officials including former Commissioner Joyner and Commissioner Bonilla, is said to be evidence against the legitimacy of the FBI's control. Despite the bank's cooperation and consistent improvement in response to the examinations, the FBI allegedly continued to influence OCIF to re-audit the bank.
The government is accused of covertly using OCIF as a "stalking horse" to gather critical materials for its criminal action, including bank records, internal investigation reports, recordings of OCIF employees and bank representatives, and interviews with OCIF officials acting as cooperating informants. This conduct is considered a clear violation of Mr. Herrera's constitutional rights.
It is worth noting that OCIF and FBI investigations were inseparably intertwined throughout the relevant period, resulting in a single investigation aimed at generating criminal charges against Mr. Herrera and the bank.
- In October 2015, Commissioner Blanco criminally referred the bank to the FBI.
- By July 2016, the FBI was conducting formal interviews with Acosta.
- In January 2017, a new OCIF investigation coincided with increasing FBI involvement.
- By November 2017, OCIF's Principal Examiner Padro felt pressured to alter her report conclusions.
- In January 2018, Commissioner Bonilla began secretly recording conversations while serving on the Bank’s Compliance Committee.
- In January 2020, Rivera began supplying the FBI with internal investigation reports and documents related to Mr. Herrera's personal art collection.
- By March 2020, Commissioner Joyner provided the FBI with a hard drive containing correspondence relating to the Bank.
- By June 2020, Tio was secretly recording bank representatives at the FBI's direction.
- By January 2021, Commissioner Zequeira was acting as a confidential informant for the FBI.
Such behavior, the document asserts, negates the existence of parallel investigations and demonstrates the co-opting of OCIF by the FBI from the outset.