Ted Stevens’ Indictment

Stevens Indicted For Failing To Disclose Over $250,000 In Gifts From Veco

Sen. Ted Steven was indicted on August 29, 2008 on seven federal felony counts of failing to disclose on his annual financial statements more than $250,000 in gifts he received from Veco and its executive, Bill Allen. The indictment indicates Veco performed and paid for renovating Stevens’ Girdwood home, providing furnishings, property maintenance and a new generator. [Veco men sparked Stevens remodel, Anchorage Daily News, 8/3/2008]

Veco Employees Admitted To Performing Labor, Property Maintenance For Stevens; Allen’s Nephew Admitted Veco Paid Bills For Work He Did

Former Veco employee and Allen’s nephew, David Anderson, admitted that Veco paid for yard work and house improvements, including installing electrical, plumbing, framing, heating and flooring materials in the Girdwood Residence. Anderson also admitted to having Veco pay for a new generator for the chalet, including the use of a crane to install it. [Veco men sparked Stevens remodel, Anchorage Daily News, 8/3/2008]

Stevens Secretly Accepted New Car Worth $44,000 From Allen As A Gift To His Daughter

Noted in the indictment is a 1999 automobile exchange in which Sen. Ted Stevens received a new Land Rover for his daughter Lily worth $44,000 from Veco Executive, Bill Allen, in exchange for a 1964 Mustang, worth less than $20,000, and $5,000 cash. In 2005, Stevens exchanged the Land Rover for a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The deal was made between Stevens’ daughter and a Veco employee “for the purpose of hiding Allen’s involvement in the transaction.” Allen wrote a personal check to the employee for $35,000, who bought the Jeep for about $34,000. Veco shipped the car to Seattle, paid the employee to fly to Seattle, pick up the car, and deliver it to Lily in California. Lily Stevens paid the Veco employee $13,000 plus her old car, valued at about $9,000, for the $34,000 Jeep. [Stevens indicted; 'I am innocent', Anchorage Daily News, 7/30/2008; Feds reveal more in Stevens case, Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008]

Stevens Looked To Veco To Provide Employment For His Son

According to federal prosecutors, Sen. Ted Stevens was recorded in March 2006 asking a lobbyist to ask Veco executive Bill Allen for a job in Phoenix for his son, Walter Stevens. Allen ordered company officials to find a job for the son in Alaska in the summer of 2006, the government said. “Stevens’ son accepted the position with Veco and also received a personal loan from Allen.” [Feds reveal more in Stevens case, Anchorage Daily News, 8/15/2008]

Stevens Hid $31,000 No-Interest Loan From Financial Disclosure Form

On Feb. 4, 2001, Sen. Ted Stevens and his wife signed a contract to buy a Florida condominium whose developers included a long time “personal friend,” fellow lawyer and former Harvard Law School roommate, George Dewey Reycraft and his son. Under the terms of the contract, the Stevens agreed to purchase a $360,000 unit and were required to put down a deposit of $36,000. According to federal prosecutors, Stevens paid only $5,000 at the time and the remaining $31,000 was paid for by Reycraft, who wrote a check to an escrow company “under the name and for the benefit of Theodore and Catherine Stevens.” After a buyer was secured, 10 months later, Stevens repaid the $31,000 deposit. “Although Stevens knowingly carried debt on a $31,000 interest-free loan from his personal friend for more than 10 months during 2001, Stevens did not list such a liability on his 2001 disclosure form,” prosecutors stated. [Money for condo believed to have come from lifelong friend, Anchorage Daily News, 8/16/2008]

Stevens Failed To Disclose No-Interest Loan On Investment That Made Him Over $120,000

In 2000, Sen. Ted Stevens’ financial disclosures listed an investment worth less than $1,000 in Pointe Bank of Florida. In 2001, that investment was valued between $100,000 and $250,000, but in 2002 Stevens failed to list the investment. The next year, in 2003, Stevens listed a $129,250 capital gain on a “contract to purchase Carroll Walk Condominium, Bay Harbor, Fla.” [Money for condo believed to have come from lifelong friend, Anchorage Daily News, 8/16/2008]

Stevens Took $31,000 No-Interest Loan From Long-Time Friends And Campaign Contributors

Both Reycraft and his son donated $1,000 each to Stevens’ campaign in 2001. [Money for condo believed to have come from lifelong friend, Anchorage Daily News, 8/16/2008]

Barbara Flanders, Stevens Aide, Did Personal Bookkeeping On Veco Homebuilding Bills

Ted Stevens used a Senate aide as his personal bookkeeper but did not report any payments from his personal funds, nor did the aide disclose any earned income of more than $200 beyond her senate salary, breaking senate rules. Instead, the aide, Barbara Flanders, collected more than a quarter-million dollars in federal pay. If Flanders was not paid for her work, it would have been considered a gift. U.S. law prohibits a federal employee from giving a gift to a superior and Stevens is also prohibited from accepting a gift from an employee receiving less pay. Federal law also says Senate employees must be paid with government funds only for assisting senators in their official duties, and not for performing personal or other nonofficial activities.

The Associated Press reported that Flanders is cooperating in the probe of Stevens’ dealings with Veco. Flanders testified under subpoena and provided documents regarding the senator’s bills. [Stevens, aide, may have run afoul of ethics rules, federal law, Associated Press, 8/3/2007]

Veco Contributions to Ted’s campaign, PAC

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Veco and its employees gave at least $105,500 to Stevens and his leadership committee. From 1993 until 2006, Veco and its employees contributed $70,500 to Stevens, and from 2003 until 2006, Veco and its employees contributed $35,000 to Stevens Northern Lights PAC. [Center for Responsive Politics, Retrieved 9/10/2008]

Ted Stevens’ Ties to VECO: VECO paid “consulting fees” to Ben Stevens

According to Ben Stevens’ Financial Disclosure Forms, Veco paid Ben $343,750 in “consulting fees” from 2000 until 2006. [Ben Stevens Legislative Financial Disclosure Forms]

Ted Stevens’ Ties to VECO: Ted, Bill and Mark Allen, and Alaska’s Great Eagle

During Veco Executive Bill Allen’s trial, he admitted on the stand to illegally paying former State Sen. Ben Stevens $4000 a month while Ben Stevens served in the Alaska State Legislature. [Allen Says He Paid For Work On Stevens’ Home, Roll Call, 7/17/2007]

CEO Bill Allen and Sen. Ted Stevens are listed as members of the company Alaska’s Great Eagle, LLC, according to state documents. The partnership, which owns a race horse, was formed in 2002, the same year Allen admits he began bribing Former State Sen. Ben Stevens. [Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development; Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing, accessed 5/8/2007]

VECO was big player in national and state politics

VECO has been Alaska’s biggest corporate political operator since it emerged from bankruptcy 25 years ago with the help of North Slope oil producers. Until it was revealed that VECO executives were at the heart of a major Alaska corruption scandal, the company’s executives were major contributors to state and national political campaigns.

Guilty pleas from top VECO executives Bill Allen and Richard Smith in May, 2007, exposed how VECO wielded influence over Alaska legislators through bribes, consulting contracts and campaign contributions.

Since 1991, Veco gave $583,108 to federal candidates and their political action committees. [From Juneau to Congress, Veco has been an influential Alaska force, Anchorage Daily News, 5/7/2007]
The charges against Allen and Smith thus far relate only to Alaska state lawmakers, but the 70-year-old Allen hasn’t limited donations to those with Alaska ties. He has sent thousands to Republican candidates in other states, including Washington, Illinois, South Carolina, California and Missouri. [Veco's reach extended outside Alaska, Associated Press, 5/10/2007]

VECO sold to CH2M Hill

Following Allen’s and Smith’s guilty pleas to corruption charges, Denver-based CH2M Hill agreed in June, 2007, to purchase VECO for $463 million.

On September 7, 2007, Allen told the court that the sale was complete: VECO was sold for more than $400 million.

However, Allen did not sell his ticket to political power and influence: The Allen clan did not give up the VECO-owned Voice of the Times, “the Web site successor to the conservative half-page editorial section that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News for 15 years. The site will continue indefinitely as part of a holding company owned by the Allen family,” according to the Anchorage Daily News.

The buyer, Colorado-based CH2M Hill, dropped the name VECO, and ranking VECO personnel have become CH2M employees. The purchase includes “all core operations, people and projects” from the former VECO. [Oil firm Veco is history, Anchorage Daily News, 9/8/2007]