WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover 10 U.S. lawmakers’ travel expenses as well as scarves, rugs and other gifts by sending funds through nonprofit corporations, the Washington Post reported, citing a confidential report.
The findings by the U.S. House of Representatives’ independent Office of Congressional Ethics said the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) funded the all-expenses-paid trip to a 2013 convention for the lawmakers and 32 House staff members, according to the newspaper.
The May 2013 “U.S.-Azerbaijan Convention” came one year after Azerbaijan’s oil company and several others asked Congress to exempt a $28 billion natural gas pipeline project from U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, according to the newspaper.
The company “allegedly funneled $750,000 through nonprofit corporations based in the United States to conceal the source of the funding for the conference in the former Soviet nation,” the Post said.
Additionally, three former aides to U.S. President Barack Obama appeared at the conference as speakers, according to the Post.
