From around April 2005 through August 2005, Jefferson offered $500,000 in cash and a share of the future profits of a Nigerian joint venture in which he held a financial interest to a high-ranking Nigerian government official for the purpose of securing necessary approvals for that joint venture from NITEL, the Nigerian public telecommunications company, which offer the Nigerian official accepted. Jefferson also used a Nigerian businessman to offer bribes to lower-ranking Nigerian officials. For statutory purposes, the government alleged that Jefferson was a citizen and a “domestic concern,” as well as an “agent of a domestic concern,” as an owner of a U.S. company involved in the bribery allegations.
According to the indictment, Jefferson allegedly drove his car with $100,000 in cash from Arlington, VA to Washington, DC to prepare to deliver the money to the Nigerian official, as the first installment in the payment of $500,000. $90,000 of that alleged $100,000 bribe payment was later found in Jefferson’s freezer.
In addition to allegations he violated the FCPA, the government charged Jefferson with soliciting bribes, money laundering, obstruction of justice and RICO. These included allegations that he provided assistance in the form of various official acts for companies, such as Kentucky-based iGate, Inc., to help those companies secure business in Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe, in exchange for monetary payments and other financial consideration. The government alleged that Jefferson used Congressional staff members and family members to form companies in which he held undisclosed financial interests to receive his bribe payments. Two individuals, including the owner of iGate, Inc., pleaded guilty to bribing Rep. Jefferson in separate proceedings.
