A US federal investigation of former president Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons has heard allegations that his half-brother, Roger, accepted cash for promised efforts to obtain not only a pardon but also diplomatic passports, Newsweekhasreported.
Mr Garland Lincecum, a Texan convicted of investment fraud, told a federal grand jury in New York earlier this month that his family had paid $235,000 to two associates of Mr Clinton's, on the understanding that he would lobby the president for a pardon, the magazine said on its Web site.
It said Mr Lincecum's name was not on a list of six that Mr Clinton gave his brother for consideration. None of the people on the list were pardoned.
The Lincecum allegation was originally reported in April. However, a second accusation, that Roger Clinton was involved in a scheme to obtain diplomatic passports, has now emerged.
Newsweeksaid that Mr Richard Cayce, an alternative-medicine salesman and a friend of Mr Lincecum's lawyer, told the grand jury that he had paid Mr Roger Clinton and his associates $100,000 for help in obtaining the passports, with which he hoped to impress foreigners.
Mr Cayce did not get the passports, the magazine’s website reported.
It quoted Mr Clinton's lawyer, Mr Bart Williams, as saying that his client had met with Mr Cayce twice but not with Mr Lincecum. Mr Clinton denies seeking or receiving money for either passports or pardons, Mr Williams said.
Former president Mr Bill Clinton granted clemency or pardons to 177 people on January 20th, his last day as president.
The US attorney for New York, Ms Mary Jo White, opened an investigation of his actions to determine whether fugitive financier Mr Marc Rich bought his pardon with political donations and gifts that his former wife gave the president, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Democratic Party.