Cunningham auction brings almost $100,000
Published March 25th, 2006
The Treasury Department auctioned off antiques and home furnishings used to bribe former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., Thursday, netting nearly $100,000 for FBI and Internal Revenue Service investigative operations.
The auction disposed of items given to Cunningham by defense contractors in return for the use of his influence to channel lucrative contracts toward their firms using his position on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Cunningham pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion charges in November, and was sentenced in early March to eight years and four months in federal prison for accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes.
According to court documents filed by Cunningham’s defense team, doctors have estimated the 64-year-old’s average life expectancy at seven years due to health problems.
Earlier this month, the court also ordered Cunningham to pay $3.65 million in back taxes and forfeited assets. Items sold in Thursday’s auction will not count toward meeting the tax obligations, however, because they were seized by the federal government as misbegotten gains and were not rightfully Cunningham’s.
Instead, the auctioned goods will place $94,625 in the coffers of the Treasury Asset Forfeiture Fund, where they will be shared between the FBI and IRS investigative divisions that worked on the case. The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, which also worked on the case, will not receive any of the auction proceeds.
