WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Henry

Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close

to $600,000 in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an

Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based

in Mexico, court papers showed.

The federal indictment, returned by a grand jury in Texas on

Tuesday and unsealed on Friday, said the bribes were laundered

through sham consulting contracts into shell companies owned by

Imelda Cuellar, the Democratic congressman's wife, from December

2014 through at least November 2021.

In exchange, it says Henry Cuellar sought to use his public

position to influence U.S. foreign policy in Azerbaijan's favor

and to pressure U.S. government officials to help the Mexican

bank lobby against anti-money laundering enforcement policies

and payday lending regulations that threatened its business.

Before the charges were unsealed, Cuellar issued a statement

denying the allegations.

"Both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations," said

Cuellar.

One of the most conservative Democrats in the House of

Representatives, Cuellar is seeking an 11th two-year term in the

Nov. 5 election. He represents a Texas district that borders

Mexico and includes Laredo and parts of San Antonio.

The 54-page indictment identifies the bank only as "Foreign

Bank-1," a Mexico City-based institution that conducts payday

lending in the U.S. and is part of a Mexican finance and retail

holding company that also owns a Mexican media company.

That appears to match Grupo Salinas, a sprawling

conglomerate controlled by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas,

whose business empire includes Banco Azteca. The indictment also

provides identifying details of a bank executive who appears to

match a recently retired Banco Azteca executive.

"Right now, we don't have information about this," Grupo

Salinas executive Luciano Pascoe told Reuters by email in

response to a request for comment.

Cuellar will step down as the ranking member of the Homeland

Security Appropriations subcommittee while the case is pending,

said a spokesperson for Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem

Jeffries.

Cuellar's home and campaign office in Laredo were searched

by federal law enforcement in January 2022, when Cuellar served

as a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.

In that capacity, he and several other members of Congress

signed a letter urging Congress to provide humanitarian support

to assist people displaced following the war between Azerbaijan

and Armenia.

The indictment cites Cuellar's support for providing funding

to Azerbaijan and a pro-Azerbaijan speech he gave on the House

floor, among other actions.

Cuellar said in his statement he had sought legal advice

from the House Ethics Committee and a national law firm.

"We requested a meeting with the Washington DC prosecutors

to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with

us or to hear our side," he added.

The Justice Department said Cuellar and his wife made

initial appearances before a federal magistrate judge in Houston

on Friday. They were released on bond.

Each faces 14 counts on charges including conspiracy,

bribery, honest services wire fraud, being a public official

acting as an agent of a foreign principal, and money laundering.

Several of the charges carry a statutory maximum of 20 years

in prison.

Cuellar is not the only member of Congress facing federal

charges.

Democratic Senator Bob Menendez is awaiting trial on

corruption charges in New York, while Republican George Santos

last year was expelled from the House while he awaits trial on

charges of violating campaign finance laws.

Both Menendez and Santos deny wrongdoing.