By Benjamin Cox on March 31, 2021 at 9:42pm
Former 18th District Congress and Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has paid a major fine to the U.S. government for accepting foreign contributions.
According to Peoria Public Radio, LaHood took a $50,000 check from Toufic Joseph Baaklini of Washington, D.C. in 2012, with knowledge that Gilbert Chagoury was the money’s original source while he served as member of the Obama Administration cabinet as Transportation Secretary. The word “loan” was written in the memo line. Baaklini was an associate of Chagoury’s, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire who agreed to pay the U.S. government $1.8 million to settle allegations he illegally contributed $180,000 to four different political candidates through proxies. Both Baaklini and Joseph Arsin of Paris, France were associates of Chagoury’s who reportedly assisted Chagoury in his illegal contributions. As a foreign national, Chagoury is prohibited by federa
Prosecutors: Ray LaHood pays $40,000 fine to resolve federal investigation
Chris Kaergard Journal Star (TNS)
April 1, 2021
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Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., in 2013.Jacquelyn Martin | AP
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood paid a $40,000 fine as part of a deal with federal prosecutors after making “misleading” statements to federal agents and failing to disclose a $50,000 payment on two government ethics forms, the Department of Justice disclosed Wednesday.
The announcement about the former Peoria lawmaker came as part of a broader federal inquiry into a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire, prosecutors in California said. Gilbert Chagoury agreed to pay $1.8 million to resolve claims that he conspired to violate federal law by making illegal campaign contributions to candidates for president and Congress.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Former Peoria Congressman and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood reportedly needed money for home repairs when he took $50,000 from the associate of a foreign national in 2012.
That s according to a 2019 non-prosecution agreement released in full by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the first time on Thursday.
LaHood was reportedly facing significant financial difficulties in part due to problems related to home remediation at the time, and was looking to raise money to fund home repairs. He met with a priest referred to only as Individual A in May 2012 to seek a connection to a creditor for a home repair loan, according to the DOJ agreement.
Former central Illinois Republican congressman Ray LaHood has acknowledged to federal prosecutors that he failed to disclose a $50,000 loan he received through a wealthy Lebanese-Nigerian businessman during his tenure as U.S. Transportation secretary in President Barack Obama’s administration.
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