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. # # # # 94-697