Jefferson witness says deal required

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jul 10, 2009 - Page: 1A

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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Baton Rouge construction company owner told a federal jury Thursday that former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson required his brother be hired as a consultant in return for the congressman pushing a proposed sugar plant in Nigeria.

George Knost, president of Arkel International, testified at the Jefferson bribery trial that he entered into contracts with Mose Jefferson on several projects potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Mose Jefferson was to get anywhere from 3 percent to 16 percent of the deals, Knost said.

The hiring of Mose was a condition of William Jefferson’s congressional backing of the projects, Knost testified.

“I needed to hire Mose Jefferson to get the assistance of the congressman,” Knost said. “It was made clear that he was going to have to be hired.”

William Jefferson stands accused of bribery, conspiracy, racketeering and money laundering.
Federal prosecutors say he used his congressional influence and office to push American projects in Africa in return for payments to himself and family members. Mose Jefferson has not been charged with a crime in the case.

Knost’s first contact with William Jefferson came in August 2000, when he asked for Jefferson’s assistance in getting onto a delegation trip with President Bill Clinton to Africa. Jefferson was a leader on the African Trade Caucus, and Arkel was trying to land two sugar plants in Nigeria, each worth $300 million, Knost said.

Despite getting approval to travel, Knost never went on the trip. But he had a later meeting in Baton Rouge with Jefferson, his brother and the governor of Jigawa State in Nigeria, Saminu Taraki. Arkel and its subsidiary Arkel Sugar was planning to build a factory worth up to $150 million in the region.

As the participants left the meeting, William Jefferson held back with Knost and told him about the condition of his support, Knost said.

“He said you have to hire my brother as a consultant to make this deal happen,” Knost said.

Knost agreed, saying Jefferson was key to getting access to Nigerian government officials whose decisions were critical to the project.

“He was the one that controlled the relationships to those officials,” Knost said of the congressman. “By hiring Mose Jefferson — that was key to opening the gate.”

The original agreement gave 3 percent to 10 percent to Mose Jefferson, though the sides eventually settled on 4 percent. Arkel eventually received $187,233 from a company called Jigawa State International in connection with the project. Arkel paid Mose Jefferson $7,489. Mose and his company, Providence International, did nothing for the money, Knost said.

Knost, 41, has been given immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony.