WASHINGTON – The FBI is focusing on at least eight suspected bribery schemes as part of its corruption probe of embattled Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., according to a federal affidavit and sources familiar with the investigation.
A key part of the FBI probe has centered on Jefferson's dealings with iGate Inc., a Louisville, Ky., high-tech company that was marketing broadband technology for the Internet and cable television in Africa.
But an affidavit used in last weekend's search of Jefferson's Capitol Hill office stated that authorities are looking at “at least seven other” bribery schemes in which Jefferson “sought things of value in return for his performance of official acts.”
Some of those schemes might be beyond the statute of limitations but could help show a pattern, a source familiar with the investigation said. The records and materials seized during the FBI raid could shed more light on those areas, according to the affidavit.
Investigators are looking at a number of companies listed under the names of Jefferson, his wife or other relatives, according to court documents. Since January, two people have pleaded guilty to bribing him.
Federal authorities have alleged in court documents that Jefferson took more than $500,000 in bribes in exchange for using his official position to promote iGate's technology in Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon. The FBI said it videotaped Jefferson taking a $100,000 payoff July 30, 2005.
The affidavit discloses an alleged scheme in which Jefferson introduced officials from Netlink Digital Television, a Nigerian company, to Vernon Jackson, the owner of iGate.
NDTV agreed to pay iGate nearly $45 million for the right to its technology and to distribute it in Nigeria. The affidavit alleges that Jefferson, without iGate's knowledge, separately negotiated with NDTV officials to receive $5 for each subscriber in “return for Jefferson's official assistance if the deal was successful.”
In early January 2004, NDTV canceled the deal with iGate. An Aug. 3 raid on Jefferson's apartment turned up a letter from NDTV's law firm concluding that “Jefferson, Vernon Jackson” and others had violated Nigerian laws.
The letter also stated, “I have also attached a list of your bank accounts through which you insisted that money be paid (which it was) to you in relation to the iGate-NDTV transaction.” It is unclear whether the money was paid, according to the FBI affidavit.
On May 20, FBI agents armed with a warrant conducted an overnight search of Jefferson's office. No such warrant had ever been used to search a lawmaker's office in the 219-year history of Congress.
After the raid, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., lodged a protest directly with President Bush, demanding that the FBI return the materials seized. Bush struck a compromise Thursday, ordering that the documents be sealed for 45 days until congressional leaders and the Justice Department agree on what to do with them.
In an editorial-page article in USA Today on Friday, Hastert said he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, have now directed House lawyers “to develop reasonable protocols and procedures that will make it possible for the FBI to go into congressional offices to constitutionally execute a search warrant.”
