Written by by MATTHEW CHOI at texastribune.org
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a powerful South Texas Democrat, was indicted with his wife Imelda on Friday on charges of accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.
Cuellar allegedly accepted the payments from Azerbaijan’s state-run oil and gas company after they had been laundered through fake consulting contracts to shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, according to the indictment. In exchange, the Laredo congressman allegedly pushed U.S. policy in favor of Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet country that borders Iran and Russia on the Caspian sea. That includes adding language to defense spending legislation to prioritize ties to countries in the region, including with Azerbaijan, and working to kill legislation prioritized by members who supported Armenian interests.
Cuellar also allegedly took money from a retail Mexican bank and influenced members of the executive branch to work around an anti-money laundering policy that threatened the bank’s interests, according to the indictment. Cuellar also allegedly coordinated with a subsidiary of the bank on legislation that would have been beneficial to the payday lending industry — a form of lending usually targeting low income borrowers with few alternatives that includes extremely high interest rates.
The indictment said Cuellar and his wife used the money to finance credit card payments, taxes, car payments, dining and shopping, including $12,000 on a custom gown. It also said one of the Cuellars’ adult children assisted in the creation of the sham shell companies used to launder funds. The Cuellars have two adult children: Christy and Catie.
The charges include bribery, money laundering, working on behalf of a foreign government and conspiracy. The indictment alleges Cuellar recruited family, friends and his former campaign manager to facilitate the payments. If convicted and given the maximum sentence, Cuellar could face decades in prison.
Cuellar quickly asserted his innocence in a statement Friday minutes after NBC News reported federal prosecutors’ plans for an indictment. The Cuellars appeared in a federal courthouse in Houston on Friday over the charges.
Cuellar said his actions were “consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” Cuellar said. “Before I took any action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm.”