Asset Search News Roundup: August 11, 2009
The jury's August 5, 2009 verdict in U.S.A. v. Jefferson, found former congressman William Jefferson guilty of hiding bribery proceeds by laundering them, as described by the 12th, 13th and 14th counts of his indictment. The August 5, 2009 verdict and a U.S. Department of Justice press release also state that Mr. Jefferson is guilty of soliciting bribes, honest services wire fraud, racketeering and conspiracy.
An August 6, 2009 jury verdict similarly found that about $470,000 dollars in two bank accounts were criminal proceeds subject to asset forfeiture. Under the August 6 verdict, stock shares in companies likely used as Mr. Jefferson's nominees, can be forfeited. These stock shares are for a Nigerian company, "W2-IBBS"; a Ghanaian company, "International Broad Band Services, LLC"; a Delaware company, "Multi-Media Broad Band Services, Inc."; and a company in Indiana, "iGate, Incorporated".
As was previously reported by the media, investigators in U.S.A. v. Jefferson had interdicted $90,000 in a freezer on August 3, 2005, pursuant to a search warrant executed at Mr. Jefferson's Washington D.C. home. A search warrant of Mr. Jefferson's congressional office had also been executed along with the one below for Mr. Jefferson's New Orleans home:
.png)
A challenge prosecutors in U.S.A. v. Jefferson undoubtedly faced, was the fact that part of Mr. Jefferson's bribery scheme included cross-border elements in Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries. To acquire evidence from foreign witnesses, prosecutors therefore sought relief in the form of mutual legal assistance and via letters rogatory. These same methods are commonly used to obtain evidence from foreign bank witnesses and are discussed in my upcoming article, "Eliciting Evidence From Foreign Bank Witnesses".
Copyright 2009 Fred L. Abrams
