Post by Logan on May 9, 2016 20:17:41 GMT -6
FBI sting, sham company, get bill through Pennsylvania Senate
The pay-to-play investigation that snared political power broker John H. Estey involved an elaborate FBI sting in which agents created a fake Florida recycling company and spent lavishly on lobbyists and campaign contributions to push the firm's agenda in Harrisburg, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer review of records and interviews with sources close to the case.
As that phase of the sting unfolded between 2009 and 2011, legislation was even drafted to help the bogus firm and sped through the state Senate, passing unanimously. Its chief sponsor was a senator who later died awaiting trial on unrelated corruption charges.
On paper, the company, Textbook Bio-Solutions LLC, said it wanted to buy textbooks to give to "impoverished nations," or to recycle into pellet fuel as an alternative heating method.
In reality, it was a front for the FBI, tracing back to a mail drop in a strip mall near Fort Lauderdale — and to an address that had been used before in another federal sting.
Read more: www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-fbi-sting-behind-the-scenes-20160509-story.html
The pay-to-play investigation that snared political power broker John H. Estey involved an elaborate FBI sting in which agents created a fake Florida recycling company and spent lavishly on lobbyists and campaign contributions to push the firm's agenda in Harrisburg, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer review of records and interviews with sources close to the case.
As that phase of the sting unfolded between 2009 and 2011, legislation was even drafted to help the bogus firm and sped through the state Senate, passing unanimously. Its chief sponsor was a senator who later died awaiting trial on unrelated corruption charges.
On paper, the company, Textbook Bio-Solutions LLC, said it wanted to buy textbooks to give to "impoverished nations," or to recycle into pellet fuel as an alternative heating method.
In reality, it was a front for the FBI, tracing back to a mail drop in a strip mall near Fort Lauderdale — and to an address that had been used before in another federal sting.
Read more: www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-fbi-sting-behind-the-scenes-20160509-story.html