** Louisiana PING **
[ If you would like on/off the LA Ping List please FReepmail
me and your name will be added to or taken off of the list. ]
Here's more news on Congressman William Jefferson of New Orleans:
[Quoted from article]:
The Nigerian Tribune FBI’s raid on Atiku’s home: US lawmaker’s aide opens up A former aide to Representative Jefferson William, Bret Pfeffer, has shed light on alleged money laundering and illegal business deal between Jefferson and Vice President Atiku Abubakar, as he pleaded guilty to being the man behind the deal, during a court proceeding in US recently. According to the report, Pfeffer had told a US court that another congressman whom he only identified as Representative “A” had lobbied high ranking officials in Nigeria and Ghana to export a technology developed by a small US based telecommunication company to their countries. The congressman told Pfeffer, according to the court documents, that “a member of Representative A’s family should perform the legal work to further the Nigerian deal” and be put on the payroll of the newly formed investment company for $2,500 to $5,000 per month. When the group met again at a law firm to consummate the deal, the congressman approached Pfeffer in the lobby and demanded a 5 to 7 percent share of the new company, the documents say. In July 2005, the documents say, the group sought to pursue a similar arrangement in Ghana. That month, Pfeffer, Representative A, an unnamed member of the congressman’s family and a member of the congressional staff travelled to Ghana, a time period that coincides with Jefferson’s visit to the West African nation. Pfeffer reported back regularly to the investor in the United States about progress during the trip, according to the documents. “Pfeffer observed Representative A meeting with various high-level Ghanaian government officials to promote the Ghana deal,” documents say. “Pfeffer was also present when Representative A met with officials of the Ex-Im Bank in Washington, D.C., to further promote the Ghana deal.” Later, the documents say, Representative A told Pfeffer that “a member of (his) extended family” would serve as secretary of the newly created Ghana company and would handle marketing. While all of the media attention has been focused on Abronoff, little has been paid to the Congressman from New Orleans.