Feds Question Bookkeeper in Stevens Case (AP)

Feds Question Bookkeeper in Stevens Case

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

(07-31) 10:49 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

A Senate clerk who helped maintain Sen. Ted Stevens' personal
financial records was recently called before a federal grand
jury in a public corruption investigation that has been joined by
the IRS and the Interior Department.

Barbara Flanders, who serves as a financial clerk for Stevens on
the Commerce Committee, testified in the past several weeks and
provided documents regarding the senator's bills, according to an
attorney in the case who spoke on condition of anonymity
because grand jury matters are secret by law.

Investigators are scrutinizing Stevens' relationship with oil field
services contractor Bill Allen, who helped oversee a complicated
renovation project that more than doubled the size of Stevens'
home in 2000. Allen's company, VECO Inc., won tens of millions
of dollars in federal contracts. Allen has pleaded guilty to bribing
Alaska lawmakers.

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Flanders is a longtime aide who helps ensure that Stevens' bills
are paid and his personals affairs are in order, the attorney said.
She was questioned about the improvement project and how the
bills were paid.

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