LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – Congressman William Jefferson, D-La., has been indicted on 16 counts stemming from a 16-month corruption investigation, CBS News reports. The charges relate to deals brokered on African deals.
The 94-page indictment, handed up in the Eastern District of Virginia, includes charges of racketeering, solicitation of bribes, wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Jefferson has been the subject of an ongoing probe in which FBI agents allegedly found more than $90,000 in cash in his freezer.
The investigation of Jefferson centered on accusations of bribery by accepting $100,000 from a telecommunications businessman, allegedly to be used to bribe Nigerian officials. FBI officials said they videotaped the congressman taking the cash and later found the $90,000 in a box in the freezer of his Louisiana home in August 2005.
