David Rivera ordered to pay $456,000 to the FEC

Miami is home to many shady politicians. Here’s a question with an easy answer: Who is the shadiest of them all? If David Rivera was not your immediate answer, you’re not from South Florida.

Politico, The Hill and the Miami Herald all reported that Rivera, a former congressman from the Miami area who lost his seat to Joe Garcia in 2012, has been ordered by a federal court to pay a fine of $456,000 for his role in a campaign finance scheme. The fine must be paid to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). 

As reported by Politico, “The FEC alleged in a civil lawsuit that Rivera secretly carried out a scheme during a 2012 congressional primary to fund the campaign of Democratic candidate Justin Lamar Sternad in an effort to weaken the campaign of opponent Joe Garcia.”

In a press release issued by the FEC, they wrote: “The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued an Order in FEC v. Rivera (Case No. 17-22643) on Tuesday, granting the Commission’s Motion for Summary Judgment.

“In 2017, the Commission brought suit against David Rivera, a former member of Congress from Florida’s 25th Congressional District, alleging that he had knowingly and willfully made contributions in the name of another in connection with the 2012 primary election campaign of another candidate in the state’s 26th Congressional District. The Commission sought a civil penalty of $456,000, which the district court granted.”

The Miami Herald reported that “Judge Marcia Cooke said Rivera’s violations were knowing, willful and injured the public. She said Rivera has the money to pay the fine and also issued a permanent injunction to further prevent Rivera from breaking campaign finance law in the future since he continued to run for office after losing the 2012 race for Florida’s 26th Congressional District to Democrat Joe Garcia.”

“In a text message,” reported the Herald, “Rivera said the order is ‘all based on lies, innuendo, hearsay and fake news.’”

The Herald also said that “Rivera is also under FBI investigation for his $50 million contract with PDVSA, an oil company owned by Venezuela’s socialist government. His business dealings in Venezuela came to light when PDVSA’s U.S. subsidiary sued him for breach of contract in 2020.

“Rivera, a harsh critic of socialist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela while holding elected office, was paid $15 million as a down payment on a three-month, $50 million contract through his consulting company, Interamerican Consulting Inc., according to the lawsuit filed in New York federal court. The lawsuit said Rivera was hired to improve PDVSA’s reputation in America amid an economic collapse in Venezuela.

“The FBI is interested in Rivera’s activities because he didn’t register as a foreign agent before working for the Venezuelan government.

“And the consulting contract was brought up again in Tuesday’s court ruling. Cooke noted that Rivera claimed a net worth of $1.5 million on a 2015 financial disclosure form and was paid a total of $15 million of his $50 million contract before it was canceled.”

Rivera has spent years skirting the law. Some have claimed that the former politician has more lives than a proverbial cat. But maybe, just maybe, his luck has run out.