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The representative of New Progressive Party (PNP) Nelson del Valle Colón was indicted by a federal grand jury on August 19 and faces charges of conspiracy, theft of federal funds, kickbacks or kickbacks, fraud, and obstruction of justice, according to an accusatory statement against him.
Who are the accused? Along with Del Valle, they were also accused Mildred Estrada Rojas, director of the legislator’s office, and Nickolle Santos Estrada, daughter of Mildred and employee of the legislator in the House of Representatives. Each faces three counts of conspiracy, theft and bribery in the form of “kickbacks”. The three were arrested this morning after a federal grand jury issued the indictment.
What was the alleged scheme? Next, we summarize the most important points:
1- At the beginning of 2017, Del Valle Colón inflated the salary of the director of his office, from less than $ 1,000 biweekly, to $ 2,300 biweekly, although according to the specifications, he received payments of up to $ 3,500. Santos’ biweekly salary, on the other hand, was $ 2,000 since she was hired by the legislator in early 2017. The salary of another stakeholder, described as “Person A,” who ran the legislator’s district office in Toa Alta, it was also allegedly inflated from $ 1,500 to $ 2,650 biweekly.
2- Supposedly, once Del Valle Colón began his second term as representative in January 2017, he fraudulently inflated the salaries of Estrada, Santos and “Person A”, without legitimate reasons, and reached corrupt agreements with each of them. From early 2017 until 2020, the legislator’s employees would receive their biweekly salary, set aside a portion of their inflated pay for themselves, and send the rest in the form of illegal commission to the legislator. Each of those kickbacks would range from roughly $ 500 to $ 2,000.
3- There were several methods to transfer the funds to Del Valle Cólón, such as the withdrawal of cash and the subsequent deposit in the legislator’s bank account, as well as electronic transfers through the ATH Móvil application.
4- The four involved, according to the specifications, “They concealed the illegal and corrupt form of the inflated wages, and they concealed the bribes and commissions paid to Del Valle Colón, for example, generally using cash instead of wire transfers or checks to transfer funds to del Valle Cólón and by falsely denying his participation in the scheme in his interviews with federal law enforcement agents, ”the statement states.
5- According to the prosecution, when federal agents seized Del Valle Colón’s telephone number on July 27, They discovered that all the legislator’s communications with Santos from July 15 backwards, and with Estrada from July 14 backwards had been deleted. For this alleged action, the representative faces a charge of obstruction of justice.
6- The statement shows 26 instances of deposits and transfers for a total of $ 21,130, but the accusation states that there were other payments in cash. At a press conference, the head of the federal prosecutor’s office In Puerto Rico, William Stephen Muldrow, argued that the legislator would have appropriated more than $ 100,000 through the kickback scheme.
