Miami: A former Miami congressman who was once a roommate with Sen. Marco Rubio has signed a $50 million consulting contract with the Nicolas Maduros government to a US affiliate of Venezuela’s state oil company in a politically charged dispute.
David Rivers Interamerican Consulting filed a counterclaim in New York federal court Thursday against Delaware-registered PDV USA, alleging unjust enrichment for failure to pay the $30 million balance of agreed-upon fees.
The contract with Rivera comes to a head when the Venezuelan-owned US subsidiary, an ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guede, works with the Justice Department to uncover any corrupt deals at Houston-based Citgo that had for years been a part of that country. It operates like a cash cow. Team.
In parallel with the trial, federal prosecutors are also looking into whether Rivera and other recipients of major contracts with Venezuela engaged in unregistered foreign lobbying for Maduro.
A guide-appointed board snatched control of Citgo, the sixth-largest independent US refiner, after the Trump administration recognized him as Venezuela’s de facto leader in 2019.
A lawsuit filed last year against Rivera by Citgos’ attorneys argues that the former legislator did almost no work in the US as part of a $50 million contract to improve the reputation of the state’s oil company, which, at the time, was Maduro. Trump was trying to sided with the administration, avoiding outright criticism of the US leader by giving $500,000 to his inaugural committee via Citgo.
Rivera argued in his countersuit that he was hired by Citgo and not PDVSA, as the state oil company is known to have developed a strategic plan to develop an independent identity separate from its controversial parent. While the amount was deemed suspiciously high by Citgos’ new management, Rivera argues that given Citgos’ public and commercial stature coupled with billions of dollars at stake, Citgo clearly justified the fee.
But PDV USA, the partner managing the contract, never paid the final $30 million under the agreement. Rivera says he did all he needed to and only received objections when the Venezuelan opposition took control of PDVSA US assets.
Citgo’s lawyers did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rivera is a former high-ranking state legislator who shared a house in Tallahassee with Rubio, who was then Speaker of the Rajya Sabha. He has since been embroiled in a number of election-related controversies, including secretly arranging funding for an unnamed Democratic candidate to take on his main opponent in the South Florida congressional race, and a state investigation into whether he has won a race for the Congress. Had hidden a $1 million contract with gambling. company. He has never been charged with a crime.
Rivera served a term in Congress from 2011–2013, and during that time honored Venezuelan exiles fleeing socialist rule and co-sponsored legislation seeking to withhold funding from the Organization of American States. until then faced by then-President Hugo Chávez for allegedly violating the Constitution of Venezuela. .
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Joshua Goodman on Twitter: @APJoshGoodman
Disclaimer: This post has been self-published from the agency feed without modification and has not been reviewed by an editor
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