CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
The former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives was charged with structuring cash withdraws to evade the bank requirement that transactions of more than $10,000 must be reported under federal law, officials said.
Officials also said a federal grand jury indicted 73-year-old Dennis Hastert, of Plano, Illinois, on one count each of structuring currency transactions to evade Currency Transaction Reports and making a false statement to the FBI.
From 2010 to 2014, Hastert withdrew a total of approximately $1.7 million in cash from various bank accounts and provided it to a person identified only as Individual A, according to the indictment.
In December last year, “Hastert falsely stated that he was keeping the cash” when questioned by the FBI, the prosecutor’s statement says.
Beginning around July 2012, Hastert started structuring his cash withdrawals in increments of less than $10,000 to evade the filing of Currency Transaction Reports, which banks are required to file for cash withdrawals in excess of $10,000.
The New York Times reported that Hastert was a little-known lawmaker from a suburban Chicago district when he became the speaker of the U.S. House in 1999 He succeeded conservative firebrand Newt Gingrich. Hastert went on to become the GOP’s longest-serving speaker. He served until 2007, the NYT reported.