David Rivera Indicted in Broader Federal Probe

Former U.S. Congressman David Rivera has been indicted by a federal grand jury for acting as an unregistered foreign agent and money laundering in connection with Venezuelan businessman Raul Gorrín. Rivera allegedly received over $5.5 million for lobbying U.S. government officials to remove Gorrín from the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. The indictment accuses Rivera of creating fraudulent shell companies and documents to conceal his activities and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Rivera reportedly funneled payments through his firm, Interamerican Consulting, and used intermediary companies in Hong Kong to disguise the financial transactions. Despite being sanctioned in January 2019, Gorrín remains on the SDN list. This indictment is part of a broader federal investigation into Rivera's previous undisclosed lobbying activities for the Venezuelan government.