Oilfield Service Peeps-this might interest you...

[Frozen Sooner]

Looks like Veco is about to take it in the pooper. One current and two former members of the Alaska Legislature were just arrested today for accepting bribes from Veco for favorable legislation. This is in addition to Rep. Tom Anderson's prior arrest for influence peddling to Veco. Former Senate President Ben Stevens (son of Ted) is believed to be a prominently mentioned unindicted co-conspirator.

http://www.adn.com/news/politics/story/8853688p-8754302c.html

Here's PDFs of the indictments:

http://www.adn.com/static/includes/alaskapolitics/kohring.pdf

http://www.adn.com/static/includes/alaskapolitics/kottweyhrauch.pdf

http://www.adn.com/static/includes/fbi_raid/120706_%20Indictment.pdf

Here's Veco's press release:

http://www.adn.com/static/includes/alaskapolitics/veco.pdf

[1stTimeCaller]

interesting.

The company I work for just settled a lawsuit with the DOJ and the SEC to the tune of 44MM due to upper management paying bribes to officials in Khazakastan, Angola and some other country.

[StoopTroup]

So will gas now go down to $.89 cents a gallon? :D

[Frozen Sooner]

This thing looks like it has a lot of legs...

D.C. grand jury examines Sen. Ted Stevens' ties to VECO

The Associated Press

Published: June 17, 2007
Last Modified: June 17, 2007 at 04:18 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has heard evidence about a remodeling project at veteran U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' home as part of a burgeoning investigation into corruption in Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday.

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The investigation is linked to the VECO Corp. bribery case that produced guilty pleas last month from two of the oil-field service company's top executives, according to law enforcement officials. The investigation also led to federal indictments against one current and two former Republican members of the Alaska House of Representatives on bribery and extortion charges.

Bob Persons, a friend and neighbor of the Alaska Republican senator, was ordered to appear before a grand jury in Washington on May 25, according to the Daily News. The government directed Persons to submit documents related to the work on Stevens' home in Girdwood, a resort town about 40 miles south of Anchorage, including work tied to VECO and contractors who were hired or supervised by VECO, the newspaper said.

Persons was overseeing the home expansion project while Stevens and his wife were in Washington. Persons could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Bob Penney, an Alaska businessman and associate of Stevens, testified two weeks ago before a federal grand jury in Anchorage that has gathered information in the corruption cases. He said Sunday he was "required not to discuss the issue" and referred comments to his attorney, Bruce Gagnon, who could not be reached.

The 83-year-old senator is under close public scrutiny because the FBI last year raided the offices of several Alaska lawmakers including his son, former Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens, as part of an ongoing corruption probe. The younger Stevens has not be charged and denies any wrongdoing.

The federal investigation led to VECO founder and former CEO Bill Allen pleading guilty last month to bribing state lawmakers in exchange for votes favoring industry on oil legislation. Rick Smith, VECO's former vice president of community and government affairs, also pleaded guilty to federal charges. Both resigned. No sentencing date has yet been set.

The Washington grand jury ordered Persons to produce documents going back more than eight years, including letters and e-mails involving Stevens, his wife, Catherine, or Ben Stevens, as well as documents for all phases of the remodeling project, the Daily News said. Persons' summons also told him to bring invoices, payments and other documents related to several VECO employees and to the main contractor, Augie Paone of Christensen Builders in Anchorage, according to the newspaper, which did not say how it obtained the information.

Stevens' spokesman Aaron Saunders on Sunday confirmed that the senator was in France as President Bush's official representative to the Paris Air Show, as reported in the newspaper. Saunders also issued a written statement from Stevens released in May:

"While I understand the public's interest in the ongoing federal investigation, it has been my long-standing policy not comment on such matters. Therefore, I will withhold comment at this time to avoid even the appearance that I might influence this investigation."

Paone could not be reached Sunday, but has previously said VECO executives - including Allen - helped oversee the home remodeling project.

Paone testified before the federal grand jury in Anchorage about the work in December and has said that he would send bills on the remodeling project to VECO, where someone would examine them for accuracy before forwarding them to Stevens. Paone has said as that far as he knew, Stevens paid the bills.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9026104p-8941680c.html