New charges target ex-Miami congressman for lobbying on behalf of sanctioned Venezuelan tycoon

Rivera was allegedly aided in that effort by another unnamed former U.S. official and resident of New York, who he allegedly paid $125,000 from the over $5.5 million he received from Gorrín or on his behalf, prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department’s National Security Division said. To promote his criminal activities, Rivera allegedly created fake shell companies registered in Delaware using names associated with a law firm and with the unnamed official, as well as the official’s hometown, to give the false appearance that the shell companies were legitimate, according to the indictment. Rivera was arrested in 2022 in another illegal lobbying case, out of federal court in Miami, tied to a $50 million consulting contract his firm, Interamerican Consulting, signed with a U.S. affiliate of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA. Rivera also looked to set up a possible flight and meeting on Gorrín’s jet for a female campaign adviser turned White House “counselor” on June 27, 2017, according to court records in the earlier criminal complaint and a parallel lawsuit filed against Rivera by Maduro’s opponents who now control the U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA.