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FBI arrests Puerto Rico mayor on public corruption charges

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The mayor of a small Puerto Rican municipality has been arrested by FBI agents on public corruption charges related to telecommunications project that officials say turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

U.S. Attorney Rosa Emila Rodriguez Velez announced Tuesday that Gurabo Mayor Victor Ortiz Diaz has been arrested on charges of extortion and soliciting a bribe.

Prosecutors allege that the mayor squandered two checks from the city’s public coffers totalling nearly $200,000 in a bogus project.

He says he is a victim of the scheme and denies accusations of wrongdoing. But Rodriguez alleges that it was “the citizens of Gurabo who were the victims of his corrupt acts.”

Ortiz faces up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines if found guilty.

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