Kemal (Kevin) Oksuz, who plead guilty for his role in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional trip to Baku was funded by the Azerbaijan government, will face trial in the US today.
Oksuz was extradited from Armenia where he was detained by authorities, pursuant to a warrant that was issued for his arrest. He accepted the charges against him in December of first year before his judge.
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Justice Department issues indictment for 2013 Congressional trip to Azerbaijan
The Ministry of Justice blamed the Orphan in 2013 for violating the laws of some US Congress members on the financing of a trip to Azerbaijan.
According to admissions made in connection with his guilty plea, Oksuz lied on disclosure forms filed with the Ethics Committee prior to, and following, a privately sponsored Congressional trip to Azerbaijan.
Oksuz falsely represented and certified on required disclosure forms that the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasions (TCAE), the Houston non-profit for which Oksuz was president, had not accepted funding for the Congressional trip from any outside sources.
Oksuz admitted to, in truth, orchestrating a scheme to funnel money to fund the trip from the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the wholly state-owned national oil and gas company of Azerbaijan, and then concealed the true source of funding, which violated House travel regulations.
A five-count indictment was returned earlier this year in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and ordered unsealed in September. Oksuz was recently extradited from Armenia where he was detained by authorities, pursuant to a warrant that was issued for his arrest.