Fraud focus: why is Trump granting clemency to convicted fraudsters?

"Donald Trump's mass pardoning of those convicted in connection to the January 6 insurrection raised eyebrows last year, but more recently his pardons have appeared to have a particular focus: to grant clemency to those convicted of fraud. Since taking office, Trump has pardoned dozens of people convicted of white-collar crimes, including several billionaires, with most of the 13 pardons he quietly issued this month granting clemency to people convicted of fraud."

"Those include Wanda Vazquez Garced, the former governor of Puerto Rico who pleaded guilty last year to a campaign finance violation. The US Department of Justice said Vazquez took hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a Venezuelan, Julio Herrera Velutini, and Mark Rossini in exchange for firing a federal official investigating a bank owned by Herrera Velutini. Trump pardoned Herrera Velutini and Rossini, who were both convicted of wire fraud, along with Vazquez."

"Herrera Velutini's daughter, Isabel Herrera, donated $2.5m to the pro-Trump political action committee Maga Inc, and another $1m in July 2025, CBS News reported. A White House official told CBS News the pardons and donations were unrelated. Another pardon this month was given to a woman to whom Trump had granted clemency during his first term. Adriana Camberos had a fraud-related sentence commuted by Trump in 2021 after being convicted as part of an elaborate fake 5-hour Energy Drink scheme."

Donald Trump has increasingly granted clemency to individuals convicted of white-collar crimes, with a recent set of 13 pardons largely focused on fraud. Recipients included former Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vazquez Garced and bankers Julio Herrera Velutini and Mark Rossini, who were convicted of wire fraud. Isabel Herrera made large donations to a pro-Trump PAC; a White House official said the pardons and donations were unrelated. Another recipient, Adriana Camberos, previously received a commutation and was later convicted in a separate fraud scheme. More than half of 88 individual pardons were for white-collar offenses, commonly involving money laundering, bank fraud and wire fraud.

Read at www.theguardian.com