Who was convicted in the FBI sting operation which ideotaped politicians accepting bribes from a fraudulent Arabian company in return for various political favors?
Abscam Abscam—sometimes written ABSCAM—was a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) sting operation that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The two-year investigation was directed from the FBI's office in Hauppauge, New York, and was under the supervision of Assistant Director Neil J. Welch, who headed the bureau's New York division, and Thomas P. Puccio, head of the Justice Department's Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York. The operation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prestigious businessmen, but was later converted to a public corruption investigation. The FBI, aided by the Justice Department and a convicted con-man, videotaped politicians accepting bribes from a fraudulent Arabian company in return for various political favors.
David P. Weber David Paul Weber is a former Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where as a whistleblower he reported allegations about foreign espionage against the stock exchanges, and concerning misconduct in the Bernard L. Madoff and R. Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme investigations. He was terminated months later for supposedly unrelated reasons. He sued the SEC, claiming wrongful termination and retaliation against him for coming forward as a whistleblower. In June 2013, the SEC settled with Weber his whistleblower protection and U.S. District Court lawsuits by reinstating him and paying him $580,000, one of the largest federal whistleblower settlements in US history. In 2014, author and blogger Larry Doyle named Weber as one of his "top 5 whistleblowers". On July 30, 2015, Weber was recognized by six United States Senators and one member of the House of Representatives at the First Congressional Celebration of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. Weber is now in the private practice of law and is a Lecturer and Academic Director of Fraud Management Programs at the University of Maryland, College Park.