Liam Conner
washington — Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife have been indicted on more than a dozen federal charges alleging they received hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijani government-owned oil company and a Mexican bank, the Department of Justice on Friday.
The 54-page indictment filed in Houston federal district court was unsealed Friday and charges Cuellar with 14 counts, including conspiracy, bribery and money laundering. He is also accused of acting as a foreign agent to benefit the Azerbaijani government.
Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Rios Cuellar, made their first appearance before a federal judge in Houston, where they both pleaded not guilty and were released on unsecured bond. The jury trial has been tentatively scheduled to begin July 8.
Speaking outside the courtroom on Friday, the congressman said he and his wife are innocent and predicted he would be re-elected in the fall.
Federal prosecutors allege that Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar accepted at least $598,000 in bribes from the Azerbaijani oil and gas company and the bank, based in Mexico City. They allege that the bribes were laundered in the form of false consulting contracts through shell companies and intermediaries in shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar. The congressman’s wife, according to the accusation, “performed little or no legitimate work” on the consultancy contracts.
Prosecutors said that in exchange for the bribes, Cuellar agreed to use the “power and prestige of his position” to advance the interests of Azerbaijan and the foreign bank, which was not named in the indictment.
NBC News was first to report that the arraignment was expected on Friday. The lawmaker indicated in a statement before the charges were released that he and his wife were facing criminal charges and said they are innocent.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The parliamentarian said in a statement that he sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee before taking any action – although it was not clear in the statement which actions he was referring to. The committee provided a written opinion as well as a second opinion from a national law firm, he said. Cuellar and his wife also requested a meeting with prosecutors in Washington, D.C., “to explain the facts,” he said, but they declined to discuss the case with them.
A spokesman for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the congressman will step aside as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee while the case is ongoing.
“Henry Cuellar has admirably dedicated his career to public service and is a valued member of the House Democratic Caucus. Like any American, Congressman Cuellar is entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process,” Christie Stephenson, Jeffries,’ the spokesperson said in a statement.
The allegations in the indictment
The indictment alleges that the congressman’s ties to Azerbaijan began in early 2013, when he and his wife traveled to Istanbul and Baku, Azerbaijan, on a trip sponsored by an organization led by a Houston resident. The unidentified resident leads two nonprofit organizations dedicated to promoting Azerbaijani interests, prosecutors said.
The groups receive funding from the Azerbaijani government-owned energy company.
Shortly after the trip, according to prosecutors, Azerbaijani government officials “discussed recruitment [Cuellar] to promote Azerbaijani interests in the United States Congress.”
A year later, in February 2014, the Justice Department said the Cuellars negotiated a “corrupt agreement” with the government-linked oil company through which it would make monthly payments to a shell company that Imelda Cuellar owns for purported “services consultancy and strategic advice”. .”
In May of that year, after the creation of the shell companies, investigators alleged that Cuellar took overt steps to benefit the foreign government, telling his contacts that he had “put language into that year’s National Defense Authorization Act” to “develop a strategic framework for the United States.” Assistance and cooperation of the security forces of States in the European and Eurasian regions”, including in Azerbaijan.
The relationship continued for years, investigators said. According to court documents, in 2017 a diplomat from the country sent the congressman information about a landmine removal operation in the region that Azerbaijan opposed.
“I understand. We’re working on it,” Cuellar reportedly responded. “Thanks, boss,” the diplomat responded, according to court documents.
Prosecutors alleged that the congressman’s staff also pressured the State Department to renew the U.S. passport of the daughter of an Azerbaijani diplomat, and Cuellar suggested he would introduce changes to legislation relating to Azerbaijan.
But it wasn’t just Azerbaijan. Investigators said Cuellar and his wife allegedly created shell companies and contracts with the Mexican retail bank in an effort to launder additional funds.
The bank, according to prosecutors, needed a better reciprocal relationship with U.S. financial institutions to exchange currency. In 2015, Cuellar reportedly agreed to include certain terms in House bills to support such transactions.
“From May to July 2016, [Cuellar] advised and pressured U.S. Official-3, a senior executive branch official responsible for bank supervision, to take official actions for the benefit of Foreign Bank-1,” investigators said in court documents.
The indictment revealed that the Cuellars used much of their allegedly illicit income to pay federal and state taxes and make credit card and automobile payments. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent at restaurants and stores, prosecutors said, and they paid $12,000 for a “custom dress,” $7,000 for a down payment on a new car and $27,000 to insurance and insurance companies. telecommunications.
The FBI search
The alleged scheme involving Azerbaijan and the Mexican bank comes more than two years after the FBI conducted a “judicially authorized” search of the congressman’s Laredo home and campaign office in January 2022, although Cuellar’s lawyer told CBS News at the time the parliamentarian was not the target of a federal investigation. A source familiar with the investigation then said that the activity at Cuellar’s home was part of an investigation related to Azerbaijan and several U.S. businessmen.
The parliamentarian’s office said at the time that he was fully cooperating with the investigation and Cuellar denied any wrongdoing.
Cuellar was elected to the House in 2005 and represents the 28th Congressional District. His district stretches from San Antonio south to the U.S.-Mexico border. Considered a moderate Democrat, Cuellar faced a difficult primary challenge of immigration lawyer Jessica Cisneros, his former intern, during the 2022 election cycle, but narrowly defeated her in the runoff.
Cuellar, who is Catholic, is the only self-described “pro-life” Democrat in the House. He made the news in October 2023 when he said it was stolen by three armed assailants while returning to his home in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Andres Triay contributed to this report.
