Kerry got bribe from Indian

From 1996 through 1998, Kerry participated in a letter-writing campaign to free-up federal funds for a missile system that defence contractor Parthasarathi ‘‘Bob’’ Majumder was trying to build for US warplanes.

Kerry’s letters were sent to fellow members of Congress — and to the Pentagon — while Majumder and his employees at Science and Applied Technology, Inc were donating money to the senator, court records show.

During the three-year period, Kerry received about $25,000 from Majumder and his employees, according to Dwight L. Morris and Associates, which tracks campaign donations. Court documents say the contractor told his employees they needed to make political contributions in order for him to gain influence with members of Congress. He then reimbursed them with proceeds from government contracts.

Federal prosecutors initially determined that $13,000 of the donations were illegally reimbursed, but they now say that nearly all of the money was tainted. They said there was no evidence Kerry and other members of Congress would have known that.

Asked what he did to repay the money, Kerry’s campaign said Wednesday he had donated $13,000 to charity two days before the guilty plea. Kerry’s campaign said his actions had nothing to do with the campaign contributions.

Campaign senior adviser Michael Meehan said Kerry was concerned that the military project was on hold and at risk of jeopardising work for people in his home state. ‘‘It was a small company. It wasn’t a big military firm that had all kinds of influence at the Pentagon.’’

Millitech, based in Northampton, specializes in the design, engineering and manufacturing of components and systems needed in satellite communications, radar and remote sensing and employs 80 people. In the mid-1990s, Kerry visited the primary contractor in San Diego that Millitech had teamed up with on the guided missile project.

Last week Majumder, 52, pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal campaign contributions. He faces a possible six years in prison when sentenced. The government dropped another 38 counts. Majumder admitted giving illegal contributions to Kerry and Republican Reps. Randall Cunningham, R-Calif., Duncan Hunter R-Calif., John Murtha, R-Pa., and former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., totalling more than $95,000.

To settle a civil suit filed by the federal government, Majumder has agreed to repay $3 million to the federal government. Majumder received a grant from the federal government in 1989 to begin research and development on an upgraded missile system that became known as the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile programme.

Majumder’s company, Science and Applied Technology Inc, was paid more than $150 million to design and develop the AARGM programme. But the programme ran into some stumbling blocks at the Pentagon.

Majumder told his employees, subcontractors and friends that he would pay them back for their contributions, which is illegal. Some employees got bonuses, court records indicate.

The Majumder case isn’t the first time that Kerry received tainted campaign money. In September 1996, Taiwanese American entrepreneur Johnny Chung held a fundraiser for Kerry in Beverly Hills. He later pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions, including $8,000 raised at the Beverly Hills event. —(LAT-WP)