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shawa
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Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 2004
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 Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:28 pm Post subject: Ex-Jefferson Aide To Testify In Federal Bribe Case |
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Remember Congressman William Jefferson of New Orleans? At the height of Katrina rescue efforts, he got a National Guard helicopter to deliver him to his flooded home and had the helo wait 45 minutes while he loaded up suitcases and crates (removing damning evidence?) At the same time making wild accusations against Bush and FEMA.
Well, it sure looks like he may be facing jail time.
What an operator!! Demands 5-7% of company, and sets up two relatives on the company payroll.
The Times-Picayune
| Quote: | Ex-Jefferson aide pleads guilty, to testify in federal bribery case
He admits illegal role in Nigeria telecom deal
Thursday, January 12, 2006
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau
WASHINGTON -- A former aide to Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court and has agreed to cooperate with an investigation into an alleged conspiracy to funnel money to the eight-term congressman and members of his family.
Brett Pfeffer, 37, told U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III that a congressman, identified in court only as "Representative A," lobbied high-ranking officials in Nigeria and Ghana to use technology developed by a small U.S.-based telecommunication company and pressed the Export-Import Bank of the United States to approve loan guarantees. In exchange, Pfeffer said, the congressman demanded a share of the new company created to facilitate the deal.
Pfeffer, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy and aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes, said the congressman also told him that a member of his family had to be put on the company's payroll.
"The congressman told me he would require 5 to 7 percent ownership of the company for his family," Pfeffer said in a voice that barely rose above a whisper. "He would work with officials in Nigeria to help the business along and get it funded."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle declined to name the representative, but court documents said that Pfeffer worked for Representative A in the 1990s, the same years that Pfeffer was a legislative aide in Jefferson's office. Jefferson also has traveled over the past two years to Nigeria and Ghana on economic development missions.
Jefferson has not been charged.
Story unfolds
Jefferson was in Holland on Wednesday as part of a Louisiana delegation touring flood-protection projects and was not expected back until late today. His congressional office declined to comment, but said Jefferson planned to attend an unrelated House committee hearing in New Orleans on Friday. His attorney also declined to comment.
The guilty plea is the biggest development in the criminal investigation since FBI agents raided Jefferson's homes in Washington and New Orleans in August 2005. At the same time, agents raided the Maryland home of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar with warrants seeking documents connecting Abubakar and his wife to Jefferson and the business deals.
The hourlong hearing for Pfeffer in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., a Washington suburb, provided the most extensive details yet of the government's investigation.
According to documents filed as part the plea agreement, Pfeffer took a job in 2004 as president of a Northern Virginia investment company and was on the lookout for new business. When he mentioned it to Representative A, the documents say, the congressman told him about "a major telecommunications opportunity in Nigeria." He also mentioned a small Kentucky firm that had developed technology that could provide high-speed Internet and cable television signals comparable to DSL across copper wire, such as those owned by the Nigerian state-owned telecommunications company, Nitel, the documents say.
At that time, records show that iGate, a Kentucky-based firm, had developed similar technology and signed a deal with an investment company in Northern Virginia called W2 Corp., to pursue opportunities in Nigeria. IGate officials have acknowledged working with Jefferson to pursue the deal.
The court documents say the congressman met with Pfeffer, a representative of the Kentucky firm and an unnamed investor, who would later begin secretly cooperating with prosecutors. The investor agreed to license the broadband technology for $45 million. The deal called for the investor to put up $3.5 million and finance the rest with a loan through the Export-Import Bank, the documents say.
Family on payroll
The congressman told Pfeffer, according to the court documents, that "a member of Representative A's family should perform the legal work to further the Nigerian deal" and be put on the payroll of the newly formed investment company for $2,500 to $5,000 per month.
When the group met again at a law firm to consummate the deal, the congressman approached Pfeffer in the lobby and demanded a 5 to 7 percent share of the new company, the documents say.
"Pfeffer understood that Representative A was soliciting a bribe in exchange for official assistance in furthering the Nigerian deal," according to the documents. "Pfeffer told (the cooperating witness) about the bribe solicitation and advised that it was the cost of doing business with Representative A."
According to the court filings, Representative A traveled to Nigeria to pursue the deal, met with high-ranking government officials, wrote them letters and met with officials at the Export-Import Bank. A bank spokesman declined to comment.
In July 2005, the documents say, the group sought to pursue a similar arrangement in Ghana. That month, Pfeffer, Representative A, an unnamed member of the congressman's family and a member of the congressional staff traveled to Ghana, a time period that coincides with Jefferson's visit to the West African nation. Pfeffer reported back regularly to the investor in the United States about progress during the trip, according to the documents.
"Pfeffer observed Representative A meeting with various high-level Ghanaian government officials to promote the Ghana deal," documents say. "Pfeffer was also present when Representative A met with officials of the Ex-Im Bank in Washington, D.C., to further promote the Ghana deal."
Later, the documents say, Representative A told Pfeffer that "a member of (his) extended family" would serve as secretary of the newly created Ghana company and would handle marketing.
Prosecutor hails plea
Ultimately, both deals fell apart when the investor pulled out.
Sources familiar with the Nigerian deal have identified Lori Mody, a wealthy Virginia businesswoman and philanthropist, as the investor who had agreed to stake the project. Efforts to contact her for comment have been unsuccessful.
David Harper, an attorney for iGate, the Kentucky firm that developed the broadband technology, said he has spoken with federal investigators but knew nothing of Pfeffer's plea. He said he planned a lawsuit against Mody and her investment company, W2, for breach of contract.
"We still don't know what happened," Harper said. "We put that whole Nigeria business behind us."
Pfeffer faces up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines. He was released on $50,000 bond and is expected to be sentenced in March.
The Justice Department hailed the plea as a step toward ensuring public integrity of elected officials.
"Today this defendant admitted to a crime which, at its core, is a bribery scheme involving a public official," said Alice Fisher, head of the department's Public Integrity Section. "Such schemes deprive citizens of the integrity and the honest services expected of our government." |
_________________
“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.” (Thomas Paine, 1776) |
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Schadow
Vice Admiral
Joined: 30 Sep 2004
Posts: 936
Location: Huntsville, Alabama
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| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 2:39 am Post subject: Re: Ex-Jefferson Aide To Testify In Federal Bribe Case |
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| shawa wrote: | Remember Congressman William Jefferson of New Orleans? At the height of Katrina rescue efforts, he got a National Guard helicopter to deliver him to his flooded home and had the helo wait 45 minutes while he loaded up suitcases and crates (removing damning evidence?) At the same time making wild accusations against Bush and FEMA.
Well, it sure looks like he may be facing jail time. What an operator!! Demands 5-7% of company, and sets up two relatives on the company payroll. |
I'm shocked! Shocked! Everyone knows that crooked, self-promoting schemes are the sole province of Republicans. Must be a mistake. Must get the NYT and WaPo on the case to affix the blame where it belongs - Karl C. Rove!
(You see, if you subtract the number of letters in 'Nigeria', 7, from 'William Jefferson', 16, you get 9 which is the number of letters in Karl C. Rove. Besides, Rove's middle name is 'Christian'. Gasp!)
ABC News has a thoroughgoing review of the infamous water tour of New Orleans. It is not kind to Jefferson:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1123495&page=1
Schadow
_________________
Capt, 8th U.S. Army, Korea '53 - '54 |
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