Testimony links firm to William Jefferson D-La probe
NOLA ^ | 10/08/06 | Bruce Alpert and Bill Walsh
nola.com
In papers filed with the FBI, Suleiman YahYah, a Nigerian businessman listed as a target in the ongoing probe of Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, said that one of the 2004 meetings he attended with Jefferson and iGate Inc. CEO Vernon Jackson, occurred in the Washington offices of Worldspace Inc., an international satellite radio provider. YahYah's statement is the first to provide any kind of link between iGate and Worldspace, whose CEO, Noah Samara, said in a June filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he turned over documents and gave testimony to the Virginia grand jury investigating Jefferson. Samara loaned Jefferson $50,001 to $100,000, according to Jefferson's 2006 campaign disclosure report. Jefferson, who has not been charged, denies any wrongdoing. Jackson was recently sentenced to seven years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to providing $400,000 to a firm controlled by Jefferson's family in return for the congressman's help winning telecommunications contracts in Nigeria and Ghana. In secretly recorded conversations between Jefferson and Lori Mody, a cooperating federal witness, Jefferson said YahYah has "a lot of folks to pay off" to get the iGate contracts approved. YahYah has denied paying or accepting bribes...
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com .... |
