BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A lawyer for Jefferson County
Commissioner Shelia Smoot is denying government claims that she
improperly directed payments from county bond deals to two small
banking firms.
Jim Parkman says the allegations in the lawsuit filed Wednesday
by the Securities and Exchange Commission are completely wrong.
A suit filed against two former executives with JPMorgan Chase &
Co. claims Smoot and a former commissioner demanded that a Wall
Street firm make payments totaling $500,000 to two Alabama-based
firms in complicated bond deals.
Smoot wasn't named in the suit and wasn't accused of a crime.
The deals helped lead to the conviction and removal from office of
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford last week.
Smoot is running for Congress as a Democrat in Alabama's 7th
District.
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(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
