Regulation Companies
Alleged Cuban agent most lately labored in BigLaw
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, a former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, is seen in a gathering with an undercover FBI agent that’s being secretly filmed as he states that one thing is “greater than a grand slam.” Rocha allegedly illegally lobbied for Cuba for many years. Picture by the FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation images, by way of Wikimedia Commons.
A former U.S. ambassador who was arrested Friday for allegedly appearing as a Cuban agent had lately labored at Foley & Lardner as a senior adviser on worldwide enterprise.
Victor Manuel Rocha, 73, a former U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, was arrested in Miami for alleged spying that started in 1981 and continued to the current.
The Miami Herald, Law.com and CNBC are among the many publications with protection. A Dec. 4 press launch from the Division of Justice is here, and the prison criticism is here.
Rocha, a former Division of State worker, first labored at Foley between 2009 and 2012, in accordance with Regulation.com. The legislation agency employed him once more final yr, the place he remained till August of this yr.
Rocha had instructed the Day by day Enterprise Evaluate after his second hiring at Foley that he would principally be serving to purchasers with immigration issues.
“The nation that draws probably the most new immigrants to the whole planet is america,” he instructed the Day by day Enterprise Evaluate when he was employed. “Everybody needs to come back to america.”
Foley instructed Regulation.com that it’ll not defend Rocha. Foley didn’t reply Regulation.com’s questions on whether or not the agency was contacted by federal brokers.
Rocha, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Colombia, was arrested after a collection of assembly with an undercover FBI agent he thought was a Cuban consultant. He referred to america because the enemy; praised the late Fidel Castro, a former chief of Cuba, because the “Comandante;” and referred to his contacts in Cuban intelligence as his “Compañeros,” that means his comrades, in accordance with the press launch.
Rocha had been a State Division worker between 1981 and 2002 in positions that gave him entry to nonpublic data, together with categorized data. He served on the Nationwide Safety Council from 1994 to 1995 and was the U.S. ambassador to Bolivia in the course of the Clinton administration.
From round 2006 till round 2012, Rocha was an adviser to the commander of the U.S. Southern Command, whose areas of accountability included Cuba.
Rocha is charged with conspiring to behave as an agent of a overseas authorities with out prior notification to the lawyer normal, with appearing as an agent of a overseas authorities with out prior notification to the lawyer normal, and with utilizing a passport obtained by false assertion.
