An indictment says Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife took bribes from the government of Azerbaijan. A key meeting was allegedly held in a San Antonio steakhouse.
If history is any guide, when American politicians discuss corrupt deals, it's often at a restaurant, and steakhouses seem to be the venue of choice. U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife Nadine are awaiting trial on charges that they accepted cash, gold bullion, a luxury car and other valuables in return for secretly assisting the government of Egypt .
Key to the alleged plot was a dinner at a Washington D.C. steakhouse attended by the senator, his wife and an Egyptian official. There's even a picture of it in federal prosecutors' court filings. They cited the dinner as an 'overt act' in furtherance of a criminal scheme. The Menendezes have denied the charges. Ohio offers another example of the strange synergy between beef and bribery. Former State House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison last year for accepting $61 million from an energy company in return for arranging a $1 billion bailout of a nuclear plant. Householder and his co-conspirators hatched their plan over a steak dinner in Washington D.C., according to restaurant receipts and other evidence produced at trial. A similar repast figures prominently in a new bribery scandal much closer to home. U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda were arrested Friday on charges that they pocketed $600,000 in bribes to promote the interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank. They have asserted their innocence and are free on bond. Cuellar, 68, said he will continue his campaign for re-election to a 10th consecutive term in November. According to a federal indictment, Azerbaijan's national oil company paid bribes to the Cuellars through intermediaries, shell companies and 'sham contracts' that called for Imelda, 67, to be paid handsomely for professional services, despite doing 'little to no legitimate work.' The arrangement began in 2014 and continued through November 2021, the Justice Department said. A key moment in prosecutors' narrative came in September 2017. Azerbaijani oil company officials had come up with a way to keep the money flowing to the Cuellars, the Justice Department contends. They would hire Imelda as a consultant to an Azerbaijan-affiliated company based in Katy. She would be paid to help the affiliate 'find suitable partners in the Houston area that are willing and able to supply oil and gas equipment,' according to the indictment. Henry Cuellar arranged for his wife to meet with Azerbaijani oil officials over lunch in San Antonio to discuss the consulting deal, the indictment states. Cuellar's congressional district includes a piece of San Antonio's Southeast Side and extends from there all the way to the border. The indictment includes an exchange of text messages between husband and wife. 'U need to be in SA to meet for lunch on Friday with folks. All set up,' the congressman allegedly texted Imelda on Oct. 4, 2017. 'You pick a steakhouse in SA for meeting,' she replied. 'OK,' Cuellar texted back. Two days later, the Azerbaijani ambassador to the U.S. reached out to Henry Cuellar. “Good morning Boss! Our friends are asking about time/location of lunch in SA today. Thanks,' the ambassador wrote. The congressman 'responded with the name and address of a steakhouse in San Antonio,' and his wife met with the oil company officials at the establishment later that day, the indictment states. The restaurant is not named. Nor is it known what the parties ordered. But according to prosecutors, the meeting accomplished its purpose. Soon afterward, the Cuellars allegedly formed a new 'shell company ... to receive the bribe payments.' The consulting contract paid $20,000 a month and was 'a sham used to disguise and legitimate Henry Cuellar's corrupt agreement to take official acts in violation of his official duties to benefit the government of Azerbaijan and to act as an agent of the government of Azerbaijan,' according to the indictment. The Cuellars' dealings with Azerbaijan accounted for just a portion of the $600,000 in bribes they collected from 2014-21, prosecutors assert. The rest came from working on behalf of a Mexican bank that was worried tighter U.S. regulations on money laundering and payday lending would hurt its business, the Justice Department said. If the Cuellars' dealings with the bank involved any restaurant meals, they are not mentioned in the indictment.
Cuellars Henry Cuellar Bob Menendez Imelda Nadine Larry Householder D. Cuellars Cuellars Menendezes Cuellars Mystery San Antonio Azerbaijan American Washington D.C. Azerbaijani Ohio Mexican Egypt N.J. Houston Laredo Katy Southeast Side Good Morning Boss
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