For Deals, Jefferson Built Web Of Firms

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/04/AR2006060400816.html


For Deals, Jefferson Built Web Of Firms

By Allan Lengel and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, June 5, 2006; Page A01

On May 12, 2005, over dinner with business partner and FBI informant Lori Mody, Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) furtively scrawled the letter "c" on a sheet of paper, and next to it wrote some numbers indicating that he was demanding a much larger personal stake in an African business deal than previously agreed to. "The 'c' is like for 'children,' " the congressman told Mody, as an FBI tape recorder rolled. "I make a deal for my children. It wouldn't be for me."


Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) and his family formed corporate entities that the FBI says were used to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal payments to Jefferson from the owner of iGate Inc.; Lori Mody, a businesswoman and iGate investor; and African business partners. Some of the companies allegedly were created to hide Jefferson's business interest. Jefferson denies wrongdoing.

As court records, sworn affidavits, plea agreements and search warrants attest, it was quite a deal, one of several involving at least seven business entities, nearly a dozen family members and hundreds of thousands of dollars sloshing through bank accounts, all for Jefferson's personal benefit. An FBI raid on Jefferson's congressional office last month triggered a constitutional showdown between the White House and congressional leaders from both parties over separation of powers. But as that controversy subsides, the focus has shifted back to Jefferson and the corporate labyrinth that federal authorities say he erected to secretly receive illegal payments for promoting high-tech ventures in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.

For Jefferson, 59, the money-making schemes were supposed to be all in the family, involving his wife, two brothers, five daughters and two sons-in-law. As a member of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee, Jefferson has traveled repeatedly to Nigeria and other western African countries and met with their leaders.

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[acmavm]

1. Why hasn't this guy resigned yet?

And it really is pathetic how some excuse this guy's behavior with "yeah, but look at the republicans and what they do". Bad is bad no matter what political affiliation, race, or sex.

[Hugin]

2. It's still penny-annie deals compared to Abramoff and Delay.

Ho-hum...

Wake me when this attempt at scandal equalizing passes.