Abscam

Not to be confused with Adscam.

U.S. Representative Michael Myers, second from left, holds an envelope containing $50,000 that he just received from undercover FBI agents

Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and corruption.[1] The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent business people, but later evolved into a corruption investigation. The FBI was aided by the United States Department of Justice and convict Mel Weinberg in videotaping politicians accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors.[2]

More than 30 political figures were investigated, and six members of the United States House of Representatives and one member of the United States Senate were convicted.[3] One member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, the Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service were also convicted. The operation was directed from the FBI's office in Hauppauge, New York, on Long Island, and was conducted under the supervision of Assistant Director Neil Welch, who headed the bureau's New York division, and Thomas P. Puccio, head of the Justice Department's United States Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York.

"Abscam" was the FBI codename for the operation, which law enforcement authorities said was a contraction of "Arab scam".[4] The American-Arab Relations Committee made complaints. Hence, officials revised the source of the contraction to "Abdul scam" after the name of its fictitious company.[5]

  1. ^ "The Investigations at a Glance; Origin Disclosure Results Inquiries Under Way". The New York Times. February 10, 1980.
  2. ^ Salinger, Lawrence M. Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime. (Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications), 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014).
  3. ^ Jensen, Eric L., and Jurg Gerber. 2007. Encyclopedia of White-collar Crime. (Westport. Conn: Greenwood Press), 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed February 19, 2014).
  4. ^ Maitland, Leslie (February 3, 1980). "High Officials Are Termed Subjects of a Bribery Investigation by F.B.I." The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
  5. ^ "Etymology of "Abscam" Undergoes Revision". The New York Times. August 21, 1980. Retrieved December 4, 2013.