David Rivera, a former Miami congressman and friend of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was found guilty on Friday for conspiring on behalf of the Venezuelan government.
Rivera and his wife Esther Nuhfer were found guilty of all chargesincluding failing to register as foreign agents with the Department of Justice, in addition to conspiring to commit money laundering.
Both are related to the government of Nicolás Madurowho is currently facing valid proceedings in the Southern District Court of New York.
The accusation indicates that The couple lobbied to benefit Venezuela with $50 million dollarsactions carried out during the first government of President Donald Trump.
Following the jury’s decision, Judge Melissa Damian ordered the arrest of the couple, as there are fears that they could flee.
In addition to these accusations Florida, Rivera and Nuhfer face accusations in the District Court of Washington, DC
Rivera was a state congressman from the Republican Party and faced trial along with his wife for seven weeks, where Secretary Rubio even participated as a witness.
The couple was accused of having a consulting contract with a US subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, which in 2022 led to 11 accusations.
Part of the strategy included contacts with Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, who was chancellor in the Maduro government.
Rivera and his wife acted as foreign agents and attempted to soften the US position on Venezuela, attempting to convince high-level political figures, including now Secretary Rubio.
Pending Federal Indictments
In addition to the proceedings in the state of Florida, Rivera faces accusations in the District Court of Washington, DC, where he He is accused of receiving more than $5 million dollars to influence federal officials.
The indictment was unsealed by a grand jury on December 18, 2024 against Rivera, 59, who is a resident of Miami, for conspiracy in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and for money laundering.
From June 2019 to April 2020, Rivera carried out a project to provide consulting and lobbying services to sanctioned Venezuelan businessman Raúl Gorrína media mogul from Venezuela, who was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Administration (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department.
“On behalf of Gorrín, Rivera attempted to pressure US government officials, including a senior Executive Branch official (Government Official-1), to have Gorrín removed from the SDN List,” the federal indictment states. “Rivera received more than $5.5 million dollars for these activities and deliberately failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
Federal level indications indicate that Rivera created ghost companies with names associated with a law firm, in order to launder the money received.
“In reality, these entities were not affiliated with the law firm,” it adds.
In fact, Rivera had included names of people who were unaware that this had happened.
“None of them knew that Rivera had created shell companies in their name,” the indictment states. “Rivera used the money obtained from his criminal activities to pay people who assisted him in his efforts to pressure senior government officials on Gorrín’s behalf, including making payments through one of the shell companies.”