WASHINGTON DC — The Justice Department has indicted former House Speaker Dennis Hastert on reporting evasion charges and lying to the FBI as part of an effort to pay off victims of “prior bad acts.”
In an indictment handed down in the District Court of Northern Illinois, the Department of Justice and IRS charged Hastert, 73, with illegally transferring funds in an effort to avoid detection by the IRS, a scheme known as “structuring.”
In the indictment, Hastert is accused of agreeing to pay one individual $3.5 million.
Although the indictment specifies neither the “bad acts” nor the victims, sources said they could be from before Hastert, who is now a lobbyist in Washington, entered politics in 1980.
Greg Hinz of Crain's has more information -
"In or about 2010, Individual A met with (Hastert) multiple times. During at least one of the meetings, Individual A and defendant discussed past misconduct by defendant against Individual A that had occurred years earlier," the indictment states. "Shortly thereafter, defendant began providing Individual A cash payments."
The indictment says the FBI questioned Hastert about, among other things, whether he "was the victim of criminal extortion related to among other matters, his prior positions in government."
News of the charges against a man who long has been one of the better-liked politicians in the state appeared to catch close friends and longtime associates by surprise.
According to the indictment, Hastert agreed to pay the money beginning in 2010. From 2010 to 2014 he allegedly withdrew $1.7 million in cash from various accounts. Eventually, according to a statement from the Department of Justice, “Hastert started structuring his cash withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 to evade” required disclosure of withdrawals in excess of $10,000. When questioned by the FBI about the matter, he “falsely stated that he was keeping the cash.”
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