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The former conservative donor is pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of the US political contributions to solving criminal cases involving a former Puerto Rico governor.
Giulio Herrera Vercini, an Italian banker in Venezuela, has donated more than £500,000 to the company to the Tory, but agreed to pleas as part of an agreement to dismiss more serious charges related to the bribery charges.
The agreement, revealed in a US court application, comes almost three years after Herrera Vercini, who was first charged by the US Department of Justice in August 2022, was first charged with it.
The case is based in US territory in return for removing the head of the regulator who had looked into Herrera Vercini’s Lender Bankredito, centering on allegations that Herrera Vercini funded the campaign to Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garden from 2019 to 2021.
Herrera Velutini consistently denied the charges.
He agreed to plead guilty to new charges of political contributions by foreigners that are illegal under US law, according to court filings Friday. Mistakes charges can result in fines or prison sentences of less than one year.
UK-based Herrera Velutini became a donor to the British Conservative Party when he was led by Boris Johnson.
Between 2019 and 2022, he contributed more than £500,000 through London-based financial services group Britannia Financial.
The UK Election Act allows donations by UK registered companies, regardless of the owner’s nationality. Herrera Velutini’s lawyer Schillings said the donations were fully complied with UK law and paid from funds generated in the UK.
Britannia also sponsored the 2022 Platinum Jubilee Pageant. This marks the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s arrival into the throne.
Herrera Vercini was being charged in a US lawsuit along with two suspects of two co-conspirators.
Indictments against all three should be dismissed as part of the transaction. Instead, each defendant will be charged with a single misdemeanor filed as information, as a prosecutor’s tool that does not require a large ju trial vote, according to court records. A plea hearing may be scheduled for late June or early July.
“The defendant’s contract with the government is to resort to misdemeanor information,” a joint filing between the prosecutor and the defendant on Friday said.
Schillings, a lawyer for Herrera in the UK, said: “Mr. Herrera is pleased to place this episode behind him, his family, his business, and the good people of Puerto Rico.
Rossini’s lawyer declined to comment. A Garced representative said he could not comment due to the court’s order.
The U.S. Lawyer’s Office in Puerto Rico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
