Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert facing federal charges
(CBS News) Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been indicted on federal charges for trying to hide close to $1 million in bank withdrawals and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Hastert was charged with one count each of structuring his currency transactions to evade Currency Transaction Reports on a withdrawal of $925,000 in cash and making false statements to the FBI in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury.
According to the indictment, in 2010, Hastert allegedly agreed to provide an individual with $3.5 million in order to compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against the individual. Between 2010 and 2014, he withdrew a total of approximately $1.7 million in cash from various bank accounts, always in denominations less than $10,000 in order to avoid triggering a requirement that banks report cash withdrawals in excess of that amount.
In 2014, he allegedly falsely told the FBI he was keeping the cash for himself.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.