Comment Federal law enforcement agents arrested former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced on Thursday, charging her with a bribery scheme allegedly aimed at financing her failed 2020 gubernatorial campaign, the Justice Department said. Vázquez Garced was scheduled to appear in federal court in Puerto Rico later Thursday. Officials said that while Vázquez Garced was governor in 2019 and 2020, she allegedly received campaign donations from a banker, Julio Martin Herrera Velutini, and a former FBI agent, Mark Rossini, who was advising the bank. Puerto Rico’s crypto scene is booming — but there’s backlash Herrera Velutini’s bank was under investigation by the regulatory agency that oversees Puerto Rico’s financial institutions. He and Rossini reportedly paid more than $300,000 to consultants who supported Vázquez Garced’s campaign. In exchange for the campaign donations, the governor reportedly said she would appoint a new commissioner to the regulatory agency of Herrera Velutini’s choosing. In February 2020, Vázquez Garced called for the resignation of the head of the agency. He appointed a new manager a few months later, according to the federal indictment. Vazquez Garced, Herrera Velutini and Rossini are each charged with conspiracy, bribery of federal programs and wire fraud. If convicted of all charges, they face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The names of their defense attorneys were not immediately released. Rossini, the former FBI agent, “The alleged bribery scheme reached the highest levels of Puerto Rico’s government, threatening public confidence in our electoral processes and institutions of governance,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., who is leading the criminal department of the Ministry of Justice. statement on Thursday. “No one is above the rule of law.” Puerto Rico swears in new governor, its third in less than a week, after court ruling Vázquez Garced, a member of the pro-democratic New Progressive Party, had a tumultuous entry into Puerto Rico’s highest political office. In 2019, Governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned amid a scandal caused by a leaked chat that contained offensive messages about his opponents and victims of Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico’s foreign minister, Pedro Pierluisi, was then sworn in to the top job. But Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court ultimately ruled that he was sworn in on unconstitutional grounds, clearing the way for Vasquez Garced to take over. At the time, she was Puerto Rico’s attorney general, the territory’s top legal official. She faced widespread distrust among residents over accusations that she mishandled the prosecution of members of her party. He denied these accusations. Vázquez Garced failed to receive her party’s nomination for governor in 2020, losing to Pierluisi. This is a developing story.