Person Loan To Jefferson Being Investigated?
In Corruption
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More trouble for Jefferson?
<<< Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, who is at the center of a federal criminal bribery probe, received a personal loan from a satellite radio executive who has had business before the federal government, financial records released Wednesday show.
Noah Samara, CEO of WorldSpace Inc., loaned Jefferson between $50,001 and $100,000, according to Jefferson's financial disclosure form for 2005. The date of the loan is not given, but Samara's company was pressing the Federal Communications Commission to let it launch a new satellite last year.
Samara's company, which delivers satellite radio in poor countries, has not been mentioned in any documents released in the federal investigation of Jefferson's role in a telecommunications deal in West Africa.
Asked whether the company had received a subpoena in the case, WorldSpace spokeswoman Judith Pryor said, "We're not talking about that." Jefferson also declined to comment when asked about Samara.
The annual financial disclosure report comes a day before House Democrats are expected to decide whether Jefferson, who has not been charged, should remain on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. The 50-member Democratic Steering Committee last week recommended that Jefferson be removed from the tax-writing panel. The 203-member caucus is expected to do the same and, if approved, it would require a vote by all 435 members of the House. >>>
In a press release following this report, Worldspace clarified that the loan was a personal loan from Mr. Samara to Rep. Jefferson, and claims it was not related to company business.
<<< "The headline to a news report published today incorrectly stated that WORLDSPACE made a loan to Congressman William Jefferson. The loan referred to in the report was a personal loan made in 2001 by Noah Samara, the Company's Chairman and CEO, to Congressman Jefferson. The loan, which is a matter of public record, is not related to any Company business.
WORLDSPACE and Mr. Samara have cooperated fully with the Department of Justice's ongoing investigation of Congressman William Jefferson. >>>
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