Former U.S. Congressman William Jefferson, who was caught with 90,000 dollars cash in his freezer, was convicted yesterday on multiple charges of bribery and money laundering in Nigeria and other African countries. The former Congressman from Louisiana, accused in 2007 of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes from companies while using his office to broker business deals in Africa, was found guilty of 11 of 16 counts of bribery, racketeering and money laundering. In a search of his residence, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) found the 90,000 dollars neatly wrapped in foil and stashed in his freezer. Jefferson faces up to 150 years in prison and could forfeit payments totaling 456,000, dollars plus stock certificates.
Reacting to the judgment, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was alleged to be the recipient of the bribe money applauded the judgment of the jury in the United States of America which though convicted Jefferson of bribery and corruption acquitted him on the charge of planning to compromise Atiku.
Jefferson was found guilty on 11 out of the 16 indictment charges against him in the judgment delivered by the jury on Wednesday which finally brought to a close this highly politicized case of a troubled Congressman.
However, he was acquitted in the violation of the foreign corrupt practices act related to Jefferson’s discussion with Mody about possibly bribing former Vice president Atiku and other Nigerian officials.
The charges include transfer from Mody of $100,000 in (FBI money) that Jefferson said was intended as a bribe to the former vice-president. All but $10,000 was later found in Jefferson’s freezer.
In a statement issued by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja, Abubakar said the acquittal of Jefferson on the charge of planning to bribe him vindicates his position over the years that he never had any improper relationship with the former Congressman.
“I have consistently maintained that I had no improper relationship with former Congressman Jefferson. My relationship with him was purely official and it was in an effort to attract foreign investors to Nigeria. Congressman Jefferson was Chairman of the House Committee on Nigeria and the request to meet him came from the Nigerian Embassy. His proposal for investment in the Nigerian communications sector was passed to the Minister of Communications. I am glad that the judgment has confirmed that I had no improper relationship with him. “God has shamed the devil and cleared the innocent.”
“The judgment has also finally unraveled one of the biggest conspiracies in Nigeria’s political history: the plot to humiliate me and to stop me from contesting the 2007 presidential election. It is now clear that, that plot was hatched at the highest level of the Nigerian government then in collusion with foreign agencies. The plot was not just to stop me from running for the presidency; it was aimed at denying the Nigerian people the right to choose their own leaders.”
In his opening argument, Jefferson’s lead attorney, Robert Trout, insisted that “no one bribed William Jefferson and William Jefferson didn’t bribe anyone.” He said that statements being used against Jefferson were simply meant to mollify Lori Mody, the Virginia businesswoman who had become Jefferson’s partner in a Nigerian venture to distribute copper-wire broadband technology.
Aug72009