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A former Conservative donor is set to plead guilty to a misdemeanour charge relating to US political contributions to resolve a criminal case involving the former governor of Puerto Rico.
Julio Herrera Velutini, a Venezuelan-Italian banker whose company donated more than £500,000 to the Tories, has agreed to make the plea as part of a deal to dismiss more serious charges related to alleged bribery.
The deal, revealed in US court filings, comes nearly three years after Herrera Velutini was first charged in August 2022 by the US Department of Justice.
The case centred on allegations that Herrera Velutini had offered campaign funding to Wanda Vázquez Garced, governor of Puerto Rico from 2019 to 2021, in return for removing the head of a regulator that was examining Herrera Velutini’s lender Bancredito, which is based in the US territory.
Herrera Velutini has consistently denied the charges.
He has agreed to plead guilty to a new charge relating to political contributions by foreign nationals, which are illegal under US law, according to a court filing on Friday. The misdemeanour charge could result in a fine or a prison sentence of less than a year.
Herrera Velutini, who is based in the UK, became a donor to Britain’s Conservative party when it was led by Boris Johnson.
Between 2019 and 2022 he donated more than £500,000 through London-based financial services group Britannia Financial, which he owned at the time and which he has since ceded to his son.
British electoral law allows donations by UK-registered businesses regardless of the nationality of their owners. Herrera Velutini’s lawyers Schillings said the donations were made in full compliance with UK laws and paid from funds generated in the UK.
Britannia also sponsored the 2022 platinum jubilee pageant, which marked the 70-year anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne.
Herrera Velutini had been charged in the US case alongside two alleged co-conspirators, the former Puerto Rico governor Garced and Mark Rossini, a former FBI special agent turned consultant.
The indictment against all three is to be dismissed as part of the deal. Instead each defendant will be charged with a single misdemeanour filed as an information, a prosecutorial tool that does not require a grand jury vote, according to court records. A plea hearing may be scheduled for late June or early July.
“The defendants’ agreement with the government contemplates pleading to a misdemeanour information,” said the joint filing between prosecutors and the defendants on Friday.
Herrera’s lawyers in the UK, Schillings, said: “Mr Herrera is pleased to put this episode behind him, his family, his businesses, and the good people of Puerto Rico. All felony charges have been dismissed and he has accepted a petty violation/misdemeanour.”
A lawyer for Rossini declined to comment. A representative for Garced said they were unable to comment because of a court order.
The US attorney’s office in Puerto Rico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
