María Milagros 'Tata Charbonier', representative for the New Progressive Party (PNP) of which she was president, pleaded not guilty this Monday after being arrested on charges of theft, bribery, electronic fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. reported the Puerto Rico prosecutor's office, which set a bond of $ 25,000.
"On August 7, a federal grand jury issued a 13-count indictment against María Milagros Charbonier Laureano - better known as 'Tata' -, her husband Orlando Montes Rivera, her son Orlando Montes Charbonier and her assistant Frances Acevedo Cevallos," said Stephen Muldrow, chief of US Attorneys in Puerto Rico, at a press conference this Monday.
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The official would have received about $ 100,000 under that fraud scheme and when she began to be investigated under the fraud scheme on July 11, she deleted most of the messages and calls on her cell phone, according to Muldrow.
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Aug. 17, 202000: 26Charbonier allegedly inflated the salary of Acevedo Cevallos, who agreed to pay a commission of $ 1,000 and $ 1,500 to the legislator.
"It wasn't a complicated thing ," Muldrow said in reference to the alleged three-year plot, adding that Acevedo once put the cash in the glove compartment of Charbonier's car as she had requested.
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The defendants face maximum penalties of up to five years for conspiracy, 10 years for bribery and 20 years for each count of wire fraud, dishonest services and money laundering, according to the same source.
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Jan. 19, 2020Charbonier, who as a legislator received a salary of $ 2,500 a fortnight, is one of the most conservative and religious legislators on the island and went so far as to file a lawsuit to prevent the legalization of homosexual marriage in Puerto Rico. Charbonier was elected in 2012 but lost Sunday's primaries and was discarded as a representative by accumulation.
The arrests occur at a time when Puerto Rico is suffering a serious economic crisis, attributed in part to corruption and mismanagement.
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With information from Telemundo Puerto Rico and AP