BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A lawsuit filed by the Securities and
Exchange Commission alleges there were more improper payments in
bond deals involving Jefferson County.
A government suit filed Wednesday alleges County Commissioner
Shelia Smoot and ex-Commissioner Jeff Germany demanded that a Wall
Street firm make payments totaling $500,000 to two Alabama-based
firms in complicated bond deals.
Smoot and Germany were not named as parties in the civil lawsuit
or charged with any crime in connection with it.
The deals were the same ones that played a role in the federal
corruption conviction and ouster of Larry Langford as Birmingham's
mayor last week.
Germany recently got out of prison on an unrelated corruption
conviction, and Smoot is currently seeking the Democratic
nomination for Alabama's 7th District congressional seat.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
