David Rivera, a former Miami-Dade congressman, has filed a lawsuit against Hugo Perera, a cooperating witness in a federal criminal case against Rivera involving unregistered lobbying for Venezuela. The suit, filed before a Miami federal court, accuses Perera's marketing companies of violating confidentiality agreements by disclosing information, including a 2018 legal memo, to federal prosecutors.
Perera, a former cocaine trafficker turned businessman, played a key role in securing a $50 million consulting contract for Rivera's firm, Interamerican Consulting, with PDV USA, a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA. Perera was paid $5 million for making introductions, but Rivera's lawsuit is seeking to recover these funds.
