Trump grants full pardon to Venezuelan-Italian billionaire banker weeks after daughter’s company hired Alina Habba under a contract worth more than $50 million

President Trump granted a full pardon on January 15 to Venezuelan-Italian billionaire banker Julio Herrera Velutini, weeks after his daughter’s company hired Alina Habba under a contract worth more than $50 million.

People familiar with the deal said they believed Habba was hired to help secure the pardon. Habba denied any link, calling the insinuation “false,” and the White House said she had nothing to do with the pardon.

Herrera Velutini was charged in 2022 in a Puerto Rico bribery case alongside the island’s former governor. The felony charges were later dropped, and he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.

In late October 2025, his daughter, Isabela Herrera, registered a Florida company with no clear business purpose. Days later, the company hired Habba as general counsel. Habba was Trump’s former personal lawyer and was then a Justice Department adviser.

Isabela Herrera gave $3.5 million to the pro-Trump super PAC Maga Inc. and pledged another $2.5 million to Trump’s White House ballroom project.