Former US Speaker Dennis Hastert indicted for ‘paying US$3.5 million in hush money’

Former US Speaker Dennis Hastert, once the third-ranked person in the US government hierarchy, has been indicted on federal charges, relating to an alleged effort to hide past misconduct by paying US$3.5 million (HK$27 million) in hush money.

The Illinois Republican, who left office in 2007, was charged with structuring the withdrawal of US$952,000 in cash in order to evade the requirement that banks report cash transactions over US$10,000, and lying to the FBI about his withdrawals, the US Attorney’s Office in Chicago said.

Each count of the two-count indictment carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a US$250,000 fine.

Hastert, 73, was not available for comment, according to his office at the Dickstein Shapiro law firm in Washington where he is listed as a senior adviser.

According to the indictment, the unspecified misconduct involved payments to an unnamed individual who had been a Yorkville, Illinois, resident and had known Hastert for most of the person’s life.

Before his terms in Congress, Hastert served three terms as an Illinois state representative and was a teacher at Yorkville High School in suburban Chicago for 16 years, according to a biography from Wheaton College where he graduated in 1964.