-Caveat Lector- Elections Head Indicted in La. By GUY COATES .c The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The state's elections commissioner has been indicted on charges he made millions of dollars through kickbacks and a money laundering scheme. Among that accusations against Jerry Fowler is he funneled $900,000 to a New Jersey investment company partly owned by him, prosecutors said. The indictment came in the wake of a legislative audit that said Fowler paid more than twice what he should have for voting machines, voting machine parts and installation of the machines, ignoring the public bid law. Fowler could not be reached for comment Thursday. His lawyer said the allegations are untrue. ``This is a rather bare-bones indictment,'' Mike Small said. ``It came as no surprise.'' The grand jury indicted Fowler on eight counts: four of malfeasance in office, three of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one of filing false public records. Assistant District Attorney Sandra Ribes said Fowler avoided the state's public bid law and gave contracts to two companies in return for kickbacks and personal profits worth millions of dollars. In one instance, a New Jersey investment firm in which Fowler had a financial interest, Independent Voting Machine Service Co., was sent $900,000 by Election Services Inc. of Alabama, one of the firms awarded a contract by Fowler, Ribes said. A legislative audit issued earlier this month found that Independent Voting Machine Service Co. and Election Services Inc., got a total of $15.4 million from the elections department from 1991 through 1998 for equipment and services that could have been made for less than half the price paid. One of the companies also made cash payments of $20,000 a month to Fowler, said Ribes, who did not identify the company. The grand jury in Baton Rouge earlier indicted 11 people who worked for or had done business with the agency in the hauling of voting machines. Ten pleaded innocent. One pleaded guilty. The audit said Fowler bought 3,200 reconditioned mechanical machines without seeking competitive bids required by law. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
