Reply #6: "charged with seven counts of making false statements; hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts

[Breeze54]

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Alaska Senator Ted Stevens Charged in Corruption Case (Update2)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3alQ969wUB0&refer=home

By Robert Schmidt
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July 29 (Bloomberg) --

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest serving Republican in the U.S. Senate, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington on charges of hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts he received.

Stevens, 84, was charged with seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006 about gifts and renovations on his house.

Stevens's indictment boosts Democratic chances of winning an Alaska Senate seat for the first time in almost three decades, if he remains a candidate. ``If Stevens is on the ballot I would expect Democrats to win the seat,'' said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.

Stevens ``knowingly and willfully engaged in a scheme to conceal'' his receipt of ``hundreds of thousands of dollars'' of gifts from Veco Corp., an oil-field engineering firm, and its chief executive officer, the indictment said.

The gifts included improvements on a home in Alaska, new vehicles, furniture and a professional Viking gas grill, according to court papers.

Stevens used ``his official position and his office on behalf of Veco,'' the indictment said.

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Stevens's indictment boosts Democratic chances of winning an Alaska Senate seat for the first time in almost three decades, if he remains a candidate.

``If Stevens is on the ballot I would expect Democrats to win the seat,'' said Nathan Gonzales of the Rothenberg Political Report.

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