Summary: After an FBI investigation, charges of structuring bank withdrawals to avoid federal reporting requirements and lying to the FBI during the investigation.
Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert has been indicted by the Justice Department on charges of reporting evasion and lying to the FBI. Hastert was paying off a former victim from his wrestling coach days with $3.5 million in hush money.
Hastert was withdrawing cash from his account in increments small enough to avoid reporting, an illegal scheme is known as “structuring”. He originally was withdrawing $50,000 at a time which caught the eye of the FBI. They were concerned that he was using the money for a criminal purpose or was a victim of extortion since he has held several political and government positions.
After the FBI investigated, it was determined that Hastert had lied during the investigation, stating that he didn’t trust banks and was just keeping the cash. They determined that he had also agreed to pay the victim $3.5 million to conceal the misconduct. The specific details of the misbehavior have not been released beyond it being sexual with a student at the high school where Hastert taught and coached wrestling.
A former wrestler of Hastert had never heard of any issues while on the team. He described Hastert as friendly and in sync with his students.
Photo: foxnews.com
