FBI arrests Puerto Rico mayor for corruption; photos leaked of him receiving money

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested the mayor of Guaynabo and president of the Federation of Mayors of Puerto Rico, Ángel Pérez, on Thursday for alleged public corruption.

Pérez, a member of the New Progressive Party who had held the position since 2017, was arrested at his home, according to reports from his political headquarters.

The deputy mayor of Guaynabo, Luisa Colom García, said in a statement that the news of the arrest “shocks them greatly” and recalled that Pérez “is assisted by the presumption of innocence.”

FBI agents also detained the deputy mayor of Trujillo Alto, Radamés Benítez, on this day.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office will hold a press conference to give more details about these arrests, which are added to other public corruption cases recently uncovered.

Last week, Félix ‘El Cano’ Delgado resigned as mayor of Cataño and pleaded guilty to participating in a corruption scheme. He received cash payments in exchange for awarding contracts to a company.

Yesterday, new data on this case were revealed. The federal prosecutor’s office in Puerto Rico recommended a five-year prison sentence for the government contractor Oscar Santamaríía Torres for bribing Delgado.