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Nigerian Entangled In Jefferson Investigation
On that Monday, a chauffeur drove Jefferson and his Northern Virginia business partner, Lori Mody, in a Lincoln Town Car down the winding pavement on Sorrel Avenue in Potomac to Abubakar's 2.3-acre property, partially shrouded by trees and protected by a six-foot-high black wrought-iron fence with gold tips.
Unbeknownst to Jefferson, Mody was wearing an FBI wire, and the chauffeur was an undercover FBI agent.
  Rep. William J. Jefferson's visit to the Maryland mansion of Nigeria's vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in August 2005 was part of an FBI sting. (By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post) More Jefferson Coverage Read post coverage of the scandal surrounding Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.), who is at the center of an investigation for allegedly accepting bribes for promoting business ventures.• FBI Raid on Lawmaker's Office Is Questioned • FBI Says Jefferson Was Filmed Taking Cash • FBI Searches Congressional Office of Louisiana Lawmaker • Mr. Jefferson's Predicament • Va. Woman Wore a Wire In Rep. Jefferson Inquiry U.S. Congress
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Jefferson met privately with Abubakar, without Mody, to discuss iGate Inc.'s involvement with a Nigerian partner in a high-tech venture to market Internet and cable television in Nigeria, according to the FBI affidavit.
Mody had invested $3.5 million, and Jefferson had a secret share of her business and of iGate.
Following the meeting on Sorrel Avenue, Jefferson told Mody that the vice president had demanded a cut of the profits. He said they also needed to give him a $500,000 payment "as a motivating factor," the affidavit said.
On July 30, Mody gave Jefferson a $100,000 bribe to pass on to Abubakar, and shortly after, Jefferson assured her that it had been delivered.
On Aug. 3, FBI agents found $90,000 of the marked FBI bills in Jefferson's freezer at his Capitol Hill apartment. None of cash had gone to Abubakar, according to the FBI affidavit.
Edward Weidenfeld, the vice president's Washington lawyer, called Jefferson's comments implicating Abubakar "false, self-serving statements."
Judy Smith, a Jefferson spokeswoman, said: "It should be clear from the statement by the vice president's counsel that the vice president never accepted or agreed to accept any money from the congressman. The congressman . . . maintains that he is innocent of any wrongdoing."