Governor of U.S. territory Puerto Rico Anibal Acevedo Vila surrendered to the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday after being indicted on charges of corruption.
He will be fingerprinted and will be taken a mugshot, the FBI said.
Outside a federal courthouse in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the governor will be arraigned, hundreds of Vila's supporters gathered to denounce the charges against him.
Vila is facing 19 criminal counts, including tax fraud and using campaign money to pay for family vacations, 57,000 U.S. dollars worth of clothing, and personal credit card bills.
The indictment threw Puerto Rican politics into disarray as some politicians and political commentators called for Vila's resignation and members of the opposition party, the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, began to discuss impeachment.
Vila said the indictment, which charges him with crimes related to financing three campaigns from 1999 to 2004, was "politically motivated" and "totally false."
Vila, 48, faces up to 20 years imprisonment if convicted on all counts, the authorities said.
Jose Aponte Hernundez, speaker of Puerto Rico's parliament, said the opposition party would decide on Friday whether to proceed with impeachment against Vila.
Source: Xinhua
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