A former Florida mayor has been released on $150,000 bail after allegedly trying to flee to his summer home in Baltimore, Co Cork, which the FBI claims was partly paid for with bribes.
FBI spokeswoman Ms Judy Orihuela told The Irish Times that Mr Jack London, the former mayor of Monroe County, which includes Key West and Key Largo, had put his Florida home on the market and was fleeing to Ireland when he was arrested at Key West airport on Saturday.
In an FBI complaint shown to The Irish Times, Mr London is accused of allowing a lobbyist to pay off $29,000 on a Cork summer home and of not declaring the sum on his income tax returns.
The FBI says the time limitation on pressing charges was about to run out when Mr London packed his bags for Ireland. However, his Miami attorney, Mr Bruce Alter, said that his client fully intended to return to the US to meet the charges and was not trying to hinder the criminal proceedings.
Mr London was mayor of one of the most lucrative tourism property areas in the US and is only one suspect in an extensive bribery investigation, according to Ms Orihuela. FBI agents are questioning a large number of lobbyists, politicians and city planning officials in an inquiry that has continued for years.
According to the FBI complaint, an FBI agent identified as "Agent Bliss" was informed by the Irish authorities that a loan on Mr London's Cork home had been paid off by a company called Hilliard Consultants.
The complaint says that Hilliard Consultants is owned by lobbyist Randy Hilliard. Mr London is alleged to have previously told police that he had not taken any money from lobbyists or political consultants.
According to the complaint, the lien arose in New York from a dispute with a business partner. Mr Hilliard is alleged to have released Mr London from the lien.
Irish authorities informed FBI agent Bliss on January 14th, 1998, of two Hilliard Consultant cheques paid for $9,750 and $9,500, according to the complaint, which adds that Mr London also has an Irish passport. It also says that a tax official with the Inland Revenue Service informed the FBI that Mr London had not declared the payments in his tax returns.
The FBI says the money was paid for Mr London's assistance in solving a zoning dispute, a charge that both Mr London and Mr Hilliard deny. A grand jury is expected to issue an indictment in the next 10 days.