Former US House Speaker Dennis Hastert indicted on bank-related charges
CHICAGO (KABC) -- Federal prosecutors have indicted former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert for evading banking laws and lying to the FBI about payments he made to an unidentified person to conceal past misconduct.
The 73-year-old Illinois Republican is accused of structuring the withdrawal of $952,000 in cash in order to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over $10,000, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.
When the FBI questioned Hastert in December 2014 about the transactions, he allegedly told the FBI that he was keeping the cash for himself, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges that between 2010 and 2014, Hastert withdrew $1.7 million from a variety of different bank accounts he controlled and gave it to an unnamed person, identified at this point only as "Individual A."
Further, the indictment says that Hastert had agreed to provide Individual A with $3.5 million to "compensate for and conceal his prior misconduct against Individual A." The alleged misconduct is not specified in the indictment.
Banks are required to report cash transactions over $10,000. The indictment further says that Hastert then made over 100 withdrawals of less than $10,000 - money that was given to Individual A.
Hastert retired from Congress in 2007 after eight years as speaker, making him the longest-serving Republican House speaker. He now lives southwest of Chicago in Plano.
He has been ordered to appear for arraignment in a federal court in Chicago. If convicted on both counts, he faces as many as 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
The Justice Department insisted that, like all defendants, Hastert is "presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial."
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
