America
Former speaker of US House of Representatives indicted
Washington, May 29
The US Department of
Justice has indicted former speaker of the House of Representatives,
Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert, who allegedly paid some $1.7 million
to cover up financial misconduct and hid from the FBI information on
large cash withdrawals, Efe news agency reported.
The US
Attorney's Office said on Thursday that Hastert, who left office in
2007, was charged with withdrawing from his bank accounts $952,000 in
cash in such a way as to evade the requirement for banks to report cash
transactions over $10,000 and then lying to the FBI about the
withdrawals.
The indictment also says that the former speaker
paid about $1.7 million in cash to buy the silence of a long-time
acquaintance, identified in the documents as "Individual A", regarding
unspecified misconduct by Hastert against that person years earlier.
The
73-year-old Hastert, a former high school teacher, headed the House
from 1999 to 2007 and later worked in Washington as a lobbyist.
The
indictment -- each count of which carries a maximum penalty of five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine -- was announced in the Northern
Illinois District Court, but it does not specify what the misconduct was
that led the former lawmaker to agree to the extortion and lie to
federal authorities about withdrawing the cash.
The Justice
Department had detected large cash withdrawals from Hastert's bank
accounts and financial transactions by the unnamed individual between
2010 and 2014.
Hastert also stands accused of tax evasion.