FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CRM

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1994 (202) 616-2771

TDD (202) 514-1888

FORMER CONGRESSMAN PERKINS IS CHARGED, AGREES TO PLEAD GUILTY

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Justice announced

today that Carl "Chris" Perkins, a former Kentucky Congressman,
has been charged with three federal felony charges in a U.S.
District Court in Washihngton, D.C., and that Perkins has agreed
to plead guilty to the charges.
Perkins, 40, represented the Seventh Congressional District
in Kentucky from 1984 to 1993.
Count One of the information charges Perkins with conspiring
to make false statements in reports to the Federal Election
Commission (FEC) in violation of Title 18, United States Code,
Sections 371 and 1001. The information alleges that Perkins
caused the Carl C. Perkins Election Committee to file false
reports with the FEC in 1989 and 1990. The reports listed as
legitimate campaign expenses $45,584, which was improperly
disbursed to Perkins or others for the benefit of Perkins.
Count Two of the information charges Perkins with bank fraud
in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344,
arising from defendant's participation in: (1) a check kiting
scheme during the period April 1990 through July 1990, involving
various financial institutions, including the banking facility of
the Sergeant At Arms of the House of Representatives (House
Bank); and (2) a scheme to defraud various financial
institutions in Kentucky in connection with loans obtained by
Perkins based on misrepresentations of the purpose of the loans
or the submission of false financial information.
Count Three charges Perkins with violating the false
statements statute, Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001,
based on defendant's material omission or underreporting of
$946,135 in liabilities on his United States House of
Representatives Financial Disclosure Statement for calendar year
1990.
Perkins faces a maximum penalty, under the three counts, of
40 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
An information was also filed today against Martha Amburgey,
a former secretary for Perkins when he was a Member of Congress.
Amburgey, 34, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to file
false statements with the FEC concerning the Carl C. Perkins
Election Committee and aiding and abetting bank fraud involving a
check kiting scheme. If convicted she faces a maximum sentence
of 35 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
The informations and the plea agreements stem from the
Department of Justice's ongoing investigation of the House Bank.
This case is being handled by attorneys assigned to the House
Bank Task Force, Criminal Division, composed of an assistant
U.S. Attorney from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a senior
litigation counsel from the Fraud Section of the Criminal
Division, a senior counsel in the Criminal Division, and Special
Agents of the FBI.
The Task Force was formed in December, 1992, to continue the
work of the preliminary inquiry into the House Bank that Malcolm
R. Wilkey, retired Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit, conducted as a Special Counsel to
the Attorney General in 1992. These charges were brought with
the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office, in Lexington,
Kentucky, and the FBI of Louisville, Kentucky.
These are the fourth and fifth criminal charges filed to
date by the Task Force. The former Sergeant At Arms, Jack Russ,
pled guilty to three felonies and is serving a 24 month prison
term. Former Member of Congress Carroll Hubbard, Jr. pled guilty
to three felonies and was recently sentenced to 36 months in
prison. Carol Brown Hubbard, the wife of former Congressman
Hubbard, pled guilty to a misdemeanor and was sentenced to five
years probation. The investigation of the House Bank Task Force
is continuing.
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